


Pretending

by Joanorbis



Series: Pezberry Week 16 [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: F/F, Pezberry Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 06:13:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7255747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joanorbis/pseuds/Joanorbis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for Pezberry week, Day one - Fake Dating</p><p>Set in season 3 but I have taken some liberties. Brittany and Artie are still together, Rachel and Finn are not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 

“Hey, Lopez.”

 

Santana shoved her books into her locker and turned to glare at the meathead clunking down the corridor towards her, his wavy hair glistening with grease and a glint in his eye that she didn’t like the look of.

 

“What do you want, curly fried?”

 

“Well, that’s not very friendly,” he drawled as he leaned heavily against the lockers next to hers. “And I was coming over here to make nice with the pariah.”

 

“Wow, look at you with the fifty cent words,” she smiled as she slammed the door shut and turned to face him, arms folded across her chest. “I’m almost impressed.”

 

“You should be, I’m a smart guy.”

 

“Clearly not or you’d realise how badly you’re pissing me off right now,” she sighed. “So I’ll ask again, what do you want?”

 

“I wanted to ask you out.”

 

“What?”

 

“You heard me.”

 

“Yeah, I did, I just...” Santana laughed as she studied his eyes. “Are you high? I mean, really?”

 

“Is that a yes?” He smirked.

 

“Of course not! Seriously, are you high? What part of this conversation gave you any cause to believe that I would ever, ever go out with you? And please be specific because obviously my rebuttal skills need serious work.”

 

“Is this about the lesbian thing?”

 

“Okay, I’m officially over this conversation,” she rolled her eyes and turned to leave.

 

“Seriously, I’m trying to help you out here,” he called after her drawing the attention of several passing students. “This gay thing isn’t doing your reputation any good.”

 

Santana stopped a little way up the corridor trying desperately not to let his words have any impact on her posture, searching her brain to come up with a suitably smart and cutting response.

 

“And you think that going out on a date with a neanderthal like you would help her how exactly?” A voice piped up behind her, causing her to turn around slowly. “Because it seems to me that the only person who would benefit from such an arrangement would be you and frankly, Perkins, whilst I might not have had any particular issue with you before, this shocking display of preying on someone who is obviously going through a particularly difficult time in their life makes me see you in a whole new light, one in which I find you utterly repellent.”

 

“Fuck you, Berry,” he spat, towering over the short brunette. “What are you, her girlfriend?”

 

Santana shook her head and rolled her eyes at the suggestion, folding her arms as she caught Rachel’s wide eyes and opened her mouth to put this asshole in his place.

 

“Yes, actually,” Rachel unexpectedly cut her off, jutting out her chin and stepping up to him. “So why don’t you just leave us alone and run along to football practice? Lord knows you need it.”

 

Santana hid her chuckle behind her hand as the tiny diva faced up to the hulking jock, quickly recovering her straight face and flashing her eyebrows at him as he glared at her over Rachel’s head.

 

“Whatever,” he muttered as he pushed off the lockers and strode passed her. “Dykes.”

 

“Yeah, you’re just pissed cos I get more pussy than you,” Santana shot as left.

 

“Santana!” Rachel hissed, pulling her into the lockers. “Must you be so vulgar?”

 

“Chill out, Berry,” she chuckled. “My girlfriend would be used to much worse.”

 

“Well maybe,” Rachel muttered, glancing about the hallway at the passing students. “But seeing as that was a spur of the moment cover up I myself am not.”

 

“No, I get that. My girlfriend would also have a more R rated response to some jerkoff hitting on me.” Santana laughed. “But thank you. I guess. Although now the whole school thinks we’re a couple.”

 

“I highly doubt that, Santana, my ruse was nothing more than a temporary distraction from the problem you were facing,” she muttered, tucking her hair behind her ear as she stared at the floor. “Perkins bruised ego will be enough for him to stay quiet, I am sure, but the deception will hopefully keep him from further harassment of you.”

 

“Yeah, maybe,” she shrugged. “Anyway, as fake girlfriends go, I guess I could do worse.”

 

“I’ll have you know you could do a lot worse,” Rachel scoffed as the two of them walked down the corridor together. “I am thoughtful, attentive, thorough…”

 

“Thorough?” Santana cocked her eyebrow at her, a devilish smirk on her lips. 

 

“You are incorrigible,” she sighed, rolling her eyes and gripping her books tighter to her chest. “If I were you girlfriend I am sure that your constant need to make everything about sex would be the source of many a discussion.”

 

“I’m sure it would,” Santana chuckled. “Many a detailed, sexy discussion that would inevitably lead to hot, steamy…”

 

“Santana!” Rachel hissed, scandalised, her wide eyes scanning the hallway as she stopped abruptly outside her class. “Must you always bring the conversation down to this level?”

 

“What level would that be, Berry?” Santana stepped in closer, enjoying the girl’s discomfort immensely. “Should I be on my knees for this?”

 

A deep blush exploded across Rachel’s face and she gave a small cough before shaking her head and turning to go to her class. “I’ll see you in Glee, Santana.”

 

She laughed as Rachel scuttled off and continued up the hallway towards her own class. As ways to torment Berry went this one was a lot of fun, despite the potentially embarrassing implications on her taste in women. Still, maybe Berry was right, maybe Perkins wouldn’t say anything, and in that case teasing Berry about what would happen if they were dating would be win win. Well, win win for her, but that was all that mattered, right?

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Are you dating Rachel?”

 

“Excuse me?” Santana choked slightly and snapped her eyes up to meet Brittany’s.

 

“Are you?” Brittany folded her arms and leant against the locker, a sullen look on her face.

 

“What if I was?” Santana gave a small shrug and looked through her books distractedly. With Brittany standing so close she could barely remember what day it was let alone what class she had next. “You’re still with Wheels, why do you care?”

 

“Because you told me you loved me and…”

 

Santana slammed her locker shut and looked around nervously. “Would you keep your voice down? I told you before, I honestly don’t know what I was thinking, and you obviously don’t feel the same so why do you keep bringing it up?”

 

“I do love you, I just love Artie as well,” she said, shifting on her feet as her piercing blue eyes bored into Santana’s. “And I know you’ve always had a thing for Rachel, I just never thought…”

 

“What?” Santana scoffed. “I never had a thing for the dwarf, what are you talking about?”

 

“Come on, Santana, you tease her all the time, you’re constantly coming up with ways to mess with her. If we were in kindergarten you’d be pulling her hair and pushing her over in the sandbox.”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she spat, folding her arms defensively and jutting out her chin. “And whatever I do with Berry stopped being your business when you picked him over me.”

 

“So you are dating her?”

 

“Like I said, not your business.”

 

“Santana,” Brittany sighed, reaching out to stroke her bicep. “I’m still your friend. I still care about you and I want you to be happy.”

 

“Really?” Santana spat, shrugging her hand away as her anger bubbled up inside her. “So where were you when I was outed? Where were you when my abuela disowned me? Where were you when I was getting felt up and offers to be fixed from the scum of the school?”

 

“I didn’t…”

 

“Don’t bother, Britt,” she shook her head and stared at the floor, willing herself to calm down. “What’s done is done. I just have to deal with it.”

 

“I wish I could have been there for you.”

 

“Yeah, well you weren’t. And you know who was?” Santana locked eyes with Brittany as she realised the truth. “Rachel. And you know what I think? I think you’re jealous, Britt. Jealous because you thought I’d just wait around for you like some lost little puppy until you got tired of Artie and came crawling back. And now that you think I’ve moved on you can’t deal.”

 

“Santana…”

 

“No, just…” Santana held her hands up and backed away. She hated fighting with Brittany but the hurt was just too much right now. She needed to leave before she said anything else she would regret. “Just leave it, alright? Just...you do your thing, I’ll do mine. Okay?”

 

She turned and walked off, no clue where she was headed, just needing to be away from Brittany and her sad eyes. She could feel the blonde’s gaze burning into the back of her head as she made her way down the hall and it was all she could do not to break into a run. Her heart ached every time she saw Brittany and Artie together and she couldn’t believe she’d made such a fool of herself by telling the girl she loved her. Why the fuck had she made her go through the whole process of confronting her feelings and admitting them to her if she had no intention of breaking up with the boy? It was just cruel.

 

She ducked into the closest bathroom and quickly locked herself in a stall, sitting down and attempting to steady her breathing as she tried to force her emotions back down. This was all too much. And what the fuck was she talking about when she said Santana had always had a thing for Rachel? She didn’t have a thing for the hobbit, as if. Hairy feet and big noses really weren’t her thing, thank you very much, and so what if she liked to tease her? She was an easy target and Santana needed something to distract her from the tedium of school.

 

Still, she thought as she started to calm down, if Britt thought there was something going on and it was making her jealous, maybe Santana could use this Berry thing to her advantage? A slow smile spread over her face as she started to formulate a plan. Suddenly she was feeling much better.

 

* * *

 

When Santana walked into the choir room at the end of the day her plan was set. Now all she needed was to get Berry to go along with it. She scanned the room and tried to ignore the way her heart twinged at the sight of Brittany sitting in Artie’s lap, whatever she was whispering in his ear causing his mouth to twist up into a filthy smile. She rolled her eyes and made a beeline for Rachel, sitting on her own in the second row.

 

“Hey there, gorgeous,” she smirked, sitting down next to her and scooting the chair closer. “How was your day?”

 

“Santana, what are you doing?” Rachel whispered in alarm, glancing around the choir room as if she was trying to work out what was going on.

 

“Sitting next to my girlfriend,” she shrugged with a smile, resting her hand on the back of Rachel’s chair. “Asking about her day. The usual.”

 

“I would have to say that it is highly unusual and not at all funny.” Rachel huffed as she flicked her hair over her shoulder. “I was trying to help you earlier and I would appreciate it if you would refrain from…”

 

“Calm down, short stack, I’m only playing,” Santana scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Thank you very much, Rachel, I am extremely grateful for what you did for me earlier and I would like to show my appreciation by taking you out this evening.”

 

Rachel leaned away from her and looked at her in shock. “What?”

 

“Breadsticks. Eight o’clock. My shout.”

 

“I don’t understand.”

 

“It’s not that difficult,” she sighed and folded her arms. “You did something nice for me, I’m saying thank you.”

 

“By, er, asking me out on a date?” Rachel said hesitantly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

 

“Calm your tits, Berry.” Santana chuckled. “A date is when two people who find each other attractive go out and try and fill the time til they can go home and have sex. This is totally different.”

 

“I see,” she sat up a little straighter in her chair, apparently bristling slightly. 

 

“So?”

 

“So what?”

 

“Jesus, Berry, did you take a slow pill at lunch?” Santana shook her head. “Are you in?”

 

“Your insults are not exactly making me eager to spend the evening with you, Santana.”

 

“Oh my God, you are such hard work. Fine, I promise not to insult you for the rest of the day. Deal?”

 

“I still don’t understand why you would want to take me out for dinner.”

 

“To say thank you.”

 

“You already said thank you.”

 

“Look, I don’t see what the big deal is,” Santana sighed in exasperation. “I’m offering to take you out tonight. You get free food, the pleasure of my company and sparkling wit, and what else were you planning on doing this evening? Washing your hair? Shaving your feet? Pining over Finnocence? What?”

 

“You said no more insults.” 

 

“Yeah, well now you’re pissing me off,” she folded her arms and turned to face the front. This was a stupid idea. She could barely even hold a conversation with the annoying midget, let alone pretend to date her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Brittany watching them closely, her arms still wrapped around Artie’s neck. She sighed and turned back to the brunette, resting her arms on her knees as she leaned in towards her. “Look, I’m sorry, I know that you’re sceptical about my intentions and you’ve every cause to be, but I promise you that I am just trying to show my gratitude. Also, I love Breadsticks and I never get to go anymore. So please, Rachel, come and have dinner with me tonight?”

 

The girl observed her for a few moments, her eyes slightly narrowed as she pondered her options. “Alright, but if you do or say anything to insult or hurt me in any way I will leave immediately and do everything in my power to get you removed from this club. Understood?”

 

“Understood,” she chuckled softly and placed her hand on the girl’s forearm. “And honestly, Berry, I’m not trying to trick you, I just want to thank you for your help today and see how many times we can get them to refill the breadsticks before they kick us out.”

  
Rachel glanced down curiously at the hand on her arm with, if Santana was not mistaken, the hint of a blush on her cheeks. Just as she was about to speak Mr Schuester marched into the room and started the practice with a clap of his hands.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

Santana walked into Breadsticks at precisely 8 o’clock and marched towards her usual table, swiftly dispatching the two goons who were sitting there and ordering her drink from the confused waitress who turned up with two plates of spaghetti. She pulled out her cellphone and flicked idly through her social media feeds as she waited for Berry to arrive.

 

Ten minutes later she was starting to become seriously concerned that she was about to be stood up, by Rachel Berry of all people, and doing her best to ignore the pointed glances the waitress gave her every time she passed by her table. Her scowl deepened with every passing minute and she was on the verge of faking a dramatic phone call to cover her embarrassment as she was forced to leave when a shadow slipped over her table.

 

“Berry,” she said in a clipped tone, folding her arms. “I thought you weren’t going to show.”

 

“Yes, I’m sorry. It was very rude of me to keep you waiting. I hope you haven’t been here too long. I got held up with…”

 

“No you didn’t.”

 

“Santana, I assure you I was…”

 

“Standing in your bedroom freaking out because you thought I was going to pull some trick on you and make you feel like shit,” she interrupted, taking in the way Rachel was nervously smoothing down her navy blue polka dot dress.

 

“No, I was…” Rachel faltered, licking her lips nervously. “Well, maybe I was freaking out in the parking lot.”

 

Santana chuckled and placed her phone on the table, gesturing to the empty side of the booth. “Sit down, Berry, you’re drawing attention to us.”

 

Rachel glanced around the restaurant and slid into the booth opposite Santana, tucking her hair nervously behind her ears as she did so. She flashed a smile at Santana as the waitress popped up by her side.

 

“Well, now that your, er, friend has arrived would you like to order?” The waitress drawled.

 

“Do you have a menu?” Rachel asked, folding her hands on the table.

 

“Forget it, Berry, vegan lasagne is about as good as it gets,” Santana said, shooting a death glare at the waitress. “I’ll have the carbonara.”

 

“Okay,” the woman said, smiling kindly at Rachel. “Would you like a drink?”

 

“Just a water please,” she smiled back. “Thank you.”

 

Santana rolled her eyes as the waitress walked away. “God, are you nice to everybody?”

 

“Working in the service industry is hard, Santana,” Rachel answered, leaning over the table with a stern look on her face. “The wages are poor and they have to rely on tips. Also, many people are ignorant and take the frustrations of their lives out on them, and they can’t exactly retaliate or they’ll find a complaint lodged against them.”

 

“Alright, princess, and you’ve come up with this theory how?” Santana laughed.

 

“As an aspiring actress I am resigned to the fact that I will have to seek alternative forms of employment as I work towards my big break,” she said, jutting her chin out. “I have done my research accordingly.”

 

“You are so weird,” Santana shook her head and raised her glass as the waitress arrived with Rachel’s water.

 

“Why? Because I like to know what I’m getting into?” Rachel smiled at the woman in thanks as she clinked Santana’s glass. “Don’t think I didn’t notice how Brittany was looking at us today at rehearsal.”

 

Santana choked on her water and looked up at the girl in surprise.

 

“No matter what else you might think of me, you clearly know I’m not stupid,” she smirked at the girl’s response. “And whatever else I know about you I know that you wouldn’t ask me to meet you outside of school without a reason. So I ask you, Santana, what is it that you want?”

 

Santana tucked her tongue into her cheek with a laugh and looked around the room as she weighed up her options. Clearly Berry knew something was up and the fact that she had come to meet her anyway meant that she was at least intrigued, at best on board.

 

“Alright, smartass,” she chuckled, raising her eyes to the short brunette and leaning her elbows on the table. “What is it you think I want seeing as how you’re so clever?”

 

“I think you want me to be your fake girlfriend and make Brittany jealous.”

 

She raised an eyebrow and clapped softly. “Well, bravo Ms Berry, that’s very astute of you.”

 

“Thank you,” Rachel nodded with a small smile, leaning her elbows on the table. “I’d like to think that my ability to pick up on potentially highly dramatic scenarios is second to none.”

 

“So that only leaves one question,” Santana leaned across the table. “If you figured out what I wanted and still came anyway, are you here to lecture me or are you on board?”

 

“Well, that all depends,” she said, leaning back again as the waitress arrived with their food.

 

“On what?”

 

“What do I get out of it?”

 

“You get to fake date the hottest girl in school,” Santana smirked as she gestured to herself before picking up her cutlery and tucking into her food. “But I guess other forms of remuneration could be discussed if that is not enough for you.”

 

“Well, I have given the matter some thought and come up with a few ideas but I would like to reserve the option to add to the list if anything comes to mind.”

 

“Uh-uh, no way, Berry,” she shook her head firmly. “There’s no way I am leaving you free to add a bunch of crazy terms and conditions as and when the mood takes you. We lock this down tonight or we don’t do it.”

 

“But situations like this one are complex and may require fine tuning along the way!”

 

“Yeah, but whatever you are getting out of it shouldn’t have to be ‘fine tuned’ along the way, you pretend to be my girlfriend, I give you something in return, that’s how this works, Berry. So what is it that you want?”

 

“Can I have just one optional extra at least?” Rachel pouted.

 

“God, you are so weird,” she sighed as she set down her knife and fork and folded her arms. “Fine, you can have one. We’ll think of it like a bonus if you do a good job.”

 

“Excellent,” she beamed, clapping her hands excitedly. “Okay, so first off we need to come up with our back story.”

 

“Our what?”

 

“Back story. You know, like who was first attracted to whom, who made the first move, how long we’ve been together, that sort of thing. Oh, and how long would you like this to continue, by the way?”

 

“Uh, I’m not sure yet, Berry, apparently I haven’t thought it through in as much detail as you have,” Santana said with an amused look.

 

“Well, I did tell you earlier I was thorough.”

 

“How could I forget?”

 

Rachel smiled as she took another bite of her food. “This is actually quite good,” she said in surprise.

 

“Yeah, well the only other vegan option is this weird soy burger that tastes like ass.”

 

“I have to say I was a little surprised that you remembered I was vegan.”

 

“What can I say, I’m the best fake girlfriend a person could have,” she smiled broadly.

 

“Well we’re about to find out.” Rachel chuckled. “Okay, so my observations of your behaviour whilst dating are that, whilst demanding, you are also very attentive and enjoy physical contact with your significant other, hand holding, linking fingers, resting your head on their shoulders, your legs on their lap, public displays of affection…”

 

“Woah, kind of getting a weird stalker vibe off of you right now, Berry,” she said in alarm, her glass paused halfway to her mouth.

 

“Nonsense, I am just well used to observing people and storing information to draw on should a future role require it,” Rachel stated as she flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Now, I am often referred to as high maintenance but in actual fact I just enjoy having a solid plan which will maximise the enjoyment myself and my partner take from our time together. I also enjoy physical contact with my chosen companion so that side of our relationship should be easy.”

 

Santana stared across the table at her and desperately wished she had had the foresight to sneak a bottle of vodka into the restaurant. This entire situation was starting to get a little out of hand. “Uh, what exactly did you have in mind, Berry?”

 

“Oh, nothing too OTT, just the same level of closeness you shared with Brittany.”

 

“Uh, you know Britt and I were extremely close, Berry…”

 

“I’m talking publicly, Santana,” Rachel said in a clipped tone, her lips slightly pursed. “And another thing, you should really start getting used to calling me Rachel. I don’t think people would believe you call the person you’re sleeping with by their last name or an assortment of hurtful nicknames.”

 

“So we’re fake fucking as well?”

 

“I figured that would be the most likely scenario,” she said, a slight blush creeping into her cheeks. “I somehow don’t see you being involved in a non sexual relationship.”

 

“Well what about you?” Santana folded her arms and leaned back. “Don’t you think people will find it a little odd that you didn’t sleep with any of your boyfriend’s but are suddenly doing the nasty with me?”

 

“Well you are an incredibly beautiful woman, Santana,” she said softly, fully blushing now. “And very sexy. And potentially my inherent reticence with my male partners stemmed from an innate misinterpretation of my sexual preference.”

 

“So I corrupted you?”

 

“No, you showed me my true sexuality.” Rachel picked up her glass and gave her a quick look. “In the scenario, of course.”

 

“Of course.” Santana hid her smirk behind her glass. “So I found out about your little gay crush on me how?”

 

“Most likely I confided in you that I was also having feelings for a woman as I was consoling you after what happened with your abuela.” Rachel mused as she cut up her food. “In typical Santana fashion you then proceeded to tease me until I gave up the name of my crush, which I, knowing that crush was you, was obviously loath to do. So you goaded me and and wound me up until I snapped and said your name.”

 

“Wanky,” she smirked.

 

“Santana! Honestly, is that all you think about?”

 

“Oh, come on!” Santana laughed. “I wound you up until you snapped and shouted my name? How else do I take that?”

 

“I didn’t say shouted,” she huffed.

 

“You may as well have,” she laughed again. “Alright so we’ve gone from consoling to screaming each other’s name in ecstasy around about a month ago. And what, we’ve been hiding it?”

 

“Well, I’m not sure that we would have gotten together right away,” Rachel said thoughtfully. “I mean just because I told you I liked you it doesn’t necessarily follow that you would like me back, or that you would act on it even if you did. Granted, your previous behaviour of name calling and attempting to sabotage my relationship with Finn could suggest a secret crush…”

 

“Hey, woah, that’s not…”

 

“In the scenario, of course,” she waved her hand dismissively. “However with the turbulence in your life at the time you may have felt it was not an appropriate point to begin a relationship.”

 

“So then how did we get together?”

 

“I would like to think that after the initial revelation you took some time to process your own complicated feelings towards me and, as the days passed, you found your thoughts increasingly occupied by me,” Rachel smiled softly, a dreamy look in her eyes. “It seemed everywhere you turned there I was, and your heart would beat a little faster when you saw me or heard my laugh, you would get butterflies in your stomach as you made your way to Glee knowing that I would be there, and one day it all got too much and you followed me to the auditorium, took me in your arms and kissed me up against the piano in the middle of the stage.”

 

“Or maybe I just got horny and decided to see whether or not you’d have sex with me?”

 

Rachel sighed and pushed her plate aside. “I think our relationship should be quite new. I don’t know how believable it is going to be that I would have put up with your crass behaviour for long without attempting to curb it in some way.”

 

“Oh, come on, Rachel,” she smiled as she reached her hand across the table. “The benefits of dating Santana Lopez definitely outweigh the odd innuendo.”

 

“It’s more than the odd innuendo, Santana, and most of the time it’s not innuendo at all, it’s just a blatant reference to sex. You could at least try and be clever about it.”

 

“Oh, right, so you wouldn’t mind me talking about sex if I did it in a ‘clever’ way,” she drawled, making the quotation marks with her fingers before sliding back in her seat and folding her arms in a sulk.

 

“I don’t mind you talking about sex at all, it’s just a little much when it’s all the time,” Rachel said softly, her hand following Santana across the table. “Don’t get upset with me, I only meant that it’s galling when someone as intelligent as you are insists on talking about sex like a frat boy.”

 

“I do not talk about sex like a frat boy!”

 

“Santana, earlier today you taunted Perkins by saying that he was only pissed because you got more pussy than him,” she sighed as she slumped back in her seat. “In what way is that unlike something a frat boy would say?”

 

“Alright, I see your point.” Santana conceded after a moment. “But I was upset, Rachel, I wanted to hit him where it hurt.”

 

“Well at least you didn’t actually hit him.”

 

“I should have hit him.”

 

“No, you definitely should not have hit him. Promise me you won’t hit him?”

 

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep, Rachel.” Santana held her hands up with a shake of her head and then laid them down on the table, leaning forward with a conspiratorial smile. “You realise we just had our first fight as a fake couple?”

 

“I suppose you’re right,” she smiled back as she thought about it. “I must say we handled it admirably.”

 

“I would make a comment about fake make up sex but I can’t think of anything clever right now…”

 

“Santana…”

 

“I’m joking!” Santana laughed and reached forward to poke Rachel’s arm lightly. “And you think I’m smart. I do believe you have described me as beautiful, intelligent and sexy this evening. Maybe this crush is not so fake after all, huh?”

 

“And you have addressed me by my actual name three times already, it would seem we are falling into our roles nicely.” Rachel smiled and nodded her head.

 

“Maybe we are,” she agreed, her eyes narrowing slightly as something occurred to her. “We still haven’t discussed what you get out of this.”

 

“I want you to sing four duets with me.”

 

Santana rested her chin on her hand as she waited for the rest of Rachel’s demands, a confused frown forming as the girl remained silent. “And?”

 

“And an apology for past behaviour so that we can start this endeavour on an even footing.”

 

Santana rolled her eyes and nodded as she circled her hand. “And?”

 

“And what?”

 

“And what else?”

 

“Nothing else,” she shrugged. “Well, other than my mystery bonus.”

 

“You’re seriously going to fake date me for an undetermined amount of time in exchange for nothing more than four duets, an apology and a, er, mystery bonus?”

 

“Yes.” Rachel nodded, her hands folded in her lap. “Of course I get to pick the songs.”

 

“Of course.”

 

“I find it completely ridiculous that we have never sung a duet before. Your voice is amazing, so smoky and sultry, and I think that if you were to spend some time with me working on your breathing and doing exercises to strengthen your vocal chords you would really be able to bring it under control and eliminate your occasional pitchiness.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I was thinking that now would be a perfect time to sing Take Me or Leave Me,” she continued, ignoring Santana’s bruised pride. “It would be a perfect way of announcing our relationship to the group.”

 

“Alright. Who gets to be Maureen?”

 

“Well, me. Obviously.”

 

“Why obviously?”

 

“Well, I look like her, for a start.”

 

“You can’t say that,” Santana waved her finger as she leaned across the table. “You may look like the chick who played her in the film…”

 

“The same actress who created the role on Broadway…”

 

“Whatever, but she’s a character. She could look like anything. Her looks are never described anywhere, it’s just heavily implied that she’s sexy as hell, and who’s sexier than me?”

 

“It’s also stated that she’s an outrageous diva. I think you will readily agree that I am by far the bigger diva of the two of us.”

 

“That’s true. But you’re also anally retentive.”

 

“What?” Rachel shot her a confused glare. “I thought you weren’t going to insult me tonight?”

 

“I know, I’m sorry, it’s the line, you know? That Maureen sings at Joanne? And she makes lists in her sleep, baby.” Santana sang the line to Rachel with a flourish. “She looks before she leaps. That’s all you, Rach. I just dive right in.”

 

“What to do with my impromptu baby?” Rachel sang back with a smile. “Maybe you’re right. We should try it, see how it goes.”

 

Santana sat back in amazement. “I’m sorry? Did you just agree to let me be Maureen?”

 

“I agreed to try it,” she said with a flick of her hair. “Try it on one song. It’s not like I would let you play the part in the show. You’d be much better as Mimi anyway.”

 

“Mimi’s the lead! Seriously, Rachel, are you okay?”

 

“It’s an ensemble show, there are no leads!”

 

“Oh, please, everyone knows Mimi and Roger are the romantic leads. The rest of the cast are just there to move the plot along.”

 

“I...strongly disagree,” Rachel said, placing her hands on the table to calm herself. “I can see to the casual observer how it may look that way but I happen to think that all of the characters are exceptionally well rounded and have fully developed plot arcs, with the possible exception of Benny.”

 

“Yeah, Benny,” she smiled, pointing her finger as she nodded victoriously. “Who is in there why? As Roger’s competition. And who in a play needs competition? The romantic lead.”

 

“He is also responsible for Maureen’s protest…”

 

“Not true,” Santana smirked triumphantly. “His employers are. He is, however, responsible for sending Mark and Roger to try and stop the protest which is how Roger bumps into Mimi again.”

 

“They were always going to go to the protest! Mark went to fix the sound system!”

 

“Roger wasn’t going though.”

 

“Yes, but he went because the power cut out, not because Benny asked him to.”

 

“I don’t know, I still think he goes mainly to spite him.”

 

Rachel smiled softly and leaned on the table, mirroring Santana’s pose. “You realise you are engaging in a debate about a musical with me.”

 

“I’m kicking your ass in a debate about a musical is what I’m doing,” she smirked back. It was weird. She was actually enjoying herself. The realisation that Berry wasn’t so bad was a strange one but it gave her hope that they could actually pull this off. It occurred to her then that she had barely thought about Britt all night, and that realisation unnerved her a little.

 

“Alright, ladies, how was everything?”

 

“It was all good, thanks,” she smiled up at the waitress, a little offended when the woman gave her a surprised look in return.

 

“Oh. Okay then,” the woman smiled quickly as she cleared their plates. “Would you like to see the dessert menu?”

 

“Not for me, thank you. Rach?” Santana leaned back as she looked across the table.

 

“No, thank you, I’m fine.”

 

“Just the check then, please,” she said to the waitress, starting to get annoyed by the woman’s reactions.

 

“Coming right up,” she nodded as she walked away.

 

“Jeez, anyone would think I grew a second head the way she was looking at me,” Santana frowned as her eyes followed the woman to the kitchen.

 

“Well maybe that’s because you talked to her like a human being for once?”

 

“And how would you know I don’t always?”

 

“Tell me, Santana,” Rachel smiled at her sweetly as she leaned across the table. “What’s our waitress’s name?”

 

“How the hell should I know?”

 

“Because she would have told you when she seated you and she has it printed on her chest.”

 

“Yeah, well she’s old,” she huffed. “Why would I be looking at her chest?”

 

“Has she ever served you before?” Rachel asked, an amused glint in her eyes.

 

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

 

“Maybe? Don’t you come here all the time?”

 

“What’s your point, Berry?”

 

“My point is that you don’t know her name and you don’t know if she’s served you before because you don’t pay any attention to the wait staff when you’re here,” she sighed. “So by that rationale, your taking the time to glance away from the table and actually thank the woman would have taken her by surprise as, if your tales of asking them to bring you endless supplies of breadsticks and returning your almost finished meal whilst asking for a refund are anything to go by, I’m pretty sure she remembers you. And you called me Berry again.”

 

“That’s because you pissed me off,” she said as she narrowed her eyes and pulled out her money as the waitress returned. “Thank you very much, Pam,” she said with a huge smile as she read the woman’s name tag. “Have a wonderful evening.”

 

“Thank you,” she smiled back warmly. “You girls take care now.”

 

Santana put down the money for the food and added an extra twenty for a tip. Screw Rachel and her analysis, she could be nice. And yeah, maybe sometimes she could be a bit rude but they shouldn’t advertise all you can eat breadsticks and satisfaction guarantees if they weren’t prepared to be taken advantage of every once in awhile.

 

“You ready?”

 

Rachel nodded and climbed out of the booth, following Santana out of the restaurant and into the cool night air.

 

“I, er, I had a really good time tonight, Santana. Thank you for inviting me.”

 

“Yeah, me too,” she smiled at the girl as she walked her to her car. “And you’re welcome.”

 

“Maybe we could do it again sometime?”

 

“Well, you know, we are fake dating,” Santana chuckled. “I guess in order to make it convincing we’re going to have to be seen in public together from time to time.”

 

“And we’ll have to get to know each other a little better,” she smiled back as she tucked her hair behind her ears and wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t even know your favourite color.”

 

“Red.”

 

“That’s lucky, given what you have to wear to school every day.”

 

“True.”

 

They stood by Rachel’s car as silence settled over them, Santana shuffling slightly awkwardly and not really knowing why. What were you supposed to do at the end of a fake date?

 

“So, I guess I’m gonna take off,” she said, shaking her head at her sudden inability to talk like a normal person. “I’ll see you in the morning, Rachel.”

 

“Okay, sure,” Rachel answered quickly, fumbling through her bag for her keys and hastily unlocking her car. “Good night, Santana.”

  
“Good night,” she waved as she stepped away from the car, chuckling softly as Rachel opened the door on herself and shot her an embarrassed smile. She continued backing away until the girl pulled out of her space and down to the exit, sending her a last wave as she disappeared from view. She made her way quickly to her own car, unlocking the door and starting the engine up before she realised she was still smiling.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 

The next morning she decided to walk by Rachel’s locker, see if she could catch the girl before first period. She didn’t know why, really, just figured it would be a good idea to get the ball rolling on this fake girlfriend stuff early if they were going to do it. She caught sight of the girl heading down the hallway and hurried to catch her up.

 

“Rachel! Wait up!”

 

Rachel stopped and turned back, a large smile spreading over her face as she waited at the edge of the corridor. “Good morning, Santana,” she said happily. “How are you?”

 

“Just peachy, thank you,” she smiled back. “Walk you to class?”

 

“Sure,” she answered with a slightly surprised look on her face.

 

“So, when do you want to meet up and rehearse our duet?”

 

“I, er, well I’m free tonight if you are?”

 

“Tonight’s not so good, actually,” she said with an apologetic look.

 

“Of course, Friday night,” she said, her smile dropping a little. “You probably have a party to go to, or something.”

 

“Well if I did I wouldn’t be going without my girlfriend now, would I?” Santana grinned as she hip checked the shorter girl gently.

 

“I guess not,” Rachel beamed back.

 

“No, I have practice and Coach has been riding us really hard the last few weeks,” she scowled as they made their way through the crowded halls, oblivious to the confused looks they were drawing. “Friday nights are usually the worst cos she wants us to remember our place over the weekend. I could swing by your place Saturday? After noon though. I like to sleep in Saturdays, then go for a run so...say oneish?”

 

“Sure. I could make us something to eat if you like? You’ll probably be hungry after your run.”

 

“Yeah, cool,” Santana nodded as the stopped in front of Rachel’s class. “So, maybe I’ll see you later?”

 

“Well we have English together third period so unless you’re planning on skipping…”

 

“Right, of course,” she dropped her gaze with an embarrassed smile and shook her head. What the hell was going on with her? “I guess I’ll see you in English then.”

 

“Yes, you will.” Rachel replied, an amused look on her face.

 

“K, bye then.” Santana turned on her heel and sped off towards her own class as the bell rang. What the hell was that? She suddenly felt all flustered and shook her head to get herself together, stopping herself just as she was about to enter the wrong classroom. “Shit,” she whispered, darting back across to the other side of the school to the correct room where she was met by Mr Armstrong’s frosty glare.

 

“You’re late, Miss Lopez,” he pointed out needlessly. “Take a seat.”

 

She flashed him an apologetic smile as she dropped into her seat next to Quinn, shrugging in response to the girl’s questioning look.

 

“Where have you been?” Quinn hissed.

 

“I thought it was Wednesday.”

 

The blonde gave her an odd look and turned her attention back to the board leaving Santana alone with her thoughts. She felt oddly happy as she thought about her plans for the weekend and that was a weird reaction to have about the prospect of being locked in a room with Rachel Berry on a Saturday afternoon. And she was going to cook. How was that going to work out? Her cookies were amazing so she must have some skill in the kitchen but she only ate vegan crap, could she even make normal people food? And if she did how would she know it was any good if she wouldn’t taste it?

 

Santana pulled her phone out of her pocket and brought up Rachel’s number.

 

_ So what kind of food are you planning on making me? _

 

She smiled as she put her phone away. No chance Berry would reply during class so she made an effort to concentrate on the lesson which, by the looks of what was being written on the board, was some sort of science but she couldn’t actually remember and she didn’t really care. Plus, her eyes were getting worse and staring at the board for too long would give her a headache. She reached over and grabbed Q’s textbook, sliding it over and opening it at a random page.

 

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out quickly hoping that Rachel had stepped out of character and stopped paying attention in class for a moment. Sure enough there was a message from her when she unlocked her screen and she grinned as she opened it.

 

_ I haven’t decided yet. I realised after I said it that I don’t know what you like to eat. _

 

She chuckled softly at the first response that popped into her head but, after yesterday’s conversation, she decided against it and leaned forward to concentrate on her reply.

 

_ It depends on the situation I guess. Different foods for different moods. _

 

She sent the message and tried to concentrate on Mr Armstrong’s droning voice. Something about hydrogen or molecules or something. Whatever it was she would look it up later. Chemistry was easy. She smirked at the thought and then frowned as she realised Rachel was right. Damn that insightful munchkin making her see stuff about herself. Introspection was not a habit she enjoyed.

 

Her phone buzzed on the desk and she snatched it up quickly, sending a furtive glance to see if the teacher had heard it over his monotonous drivel. Thankfully it appeared not so she turned her attention to the message.

 

_ That’s not very helpful, Santana. I’m cooking for your mood now?! Be sure to text me on your way so I know whether to prepare happy eggs or bitchy pasta. _

 

Santana snorted out a laugh at the response and had to cover it with a fake cough as she felt several pairs of eyes on her, including Quinn’s. She stared up at the board for a few minutes until the interest died down and then quickly tapped out a reply.

 

_ Don’t make me laugh when I’m being secretive in class, Rachel, you’ll get me in trouble. And I meant to set the mood, not cater to the mood literally. But, just so you’re aware, running relaxes me but I don’t like to eat anything heavy after or I basically just fall asleep. So no bitchy pasta. _

 

“Who are you texting?” Quinn hissed in her ear.

 

“Nobody,” she hissed back as she shoved her phone in her pocket.

 

“The same nobody who made you late for class? They’ve put you in an awfully good mood.”

 

“Ssh, I’m trying to concentrate.”

 

“Yeah right,” the blonde smirked. “Concentrate on your sexting.”

 

“I am not sexting!”

 

“Santana, you only ever smile like that when you’re flirting with somebody.”

 

“Ssh!”

 

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she fought the urge to pull it out straight away, looking pointedly at Quinn until she turned her attention back to the board with a soft chuckle.

 

_ Good to know. I definitely would prefer to spend the afternoon in the company of relaxed Santana. And you should be concentrating on your class! I’ll talk to you later. _

 

Santana pouted at the scholastic sentiment and typed out her reply accordingly.

 

_ It’s so boring though! But I’ll be good, I suppose. See you soon. _

 

She sighed and shoved her phone back in her pocket to spend the rest of the lesson trying to concentrate on Mr Armstrong’s droning voice and ignore Quinn’s questioning looks. As the bell rang she jumped up out of her seat and tried to exit the room before her friend could catch her up, holding herself back from kidney punching the crowd of students who were blocking the doorway.

 

“You know we have Geography together next, right?” Quinn said as she stuck annoyingly close to her side. “Or were you planning on ditching to go and meet your mystery text buddy?”

 

“I don’t have a mystery text buddy, Q,” she said with a glare. “Stop trying to make this into something.”

 

“Well I wouldn’t be able to if you just told me who was making me so happy.”

 

“Who was making me…?” Santana turned to her friend and crossed her arms. “Seriously, what is the matter with you? Is your life really so boring that you have to make shit up about mine?”

 

“Come on, Santana,” the blonde laughed. “Just tell me who it is!”

 

“Why?” 

 

“Because!” Quinn followed her as she pushed her way out of the room, scowling at the person blocking her path. “The fact that you won’t tell me has piqued my interest to the point that whoever it was can’t possibly compare to the names swirling round my head right now!”

 

“Jesus, Quinn, you really need to get out more,” she chuckled as the moved towards their next class.

 

“You’re really not going to tell me?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Really?”

 

“No, Quinn, and you know why?” Santana stopped at her locker and twisted the combination. 

 

“Why?”

 

“Because it’s none of your goddamn business!”

 

“So it is someone!” Quinn smiled triumphantly.

 

“Well of course it’s someone,” she laughed and rolled her eyes as she pulled her books out and slammed the door. “I wasn’t texting myself.”

 

“No, I know that,” she drawled as they carried on down the corridor. “I mean, it’s someone someone, not just someone.”

 

“Seriously, Q,” Santana sighed, officially over this conversation and the way it had been blown completely out of proportion. “Just drop it, okay? So I was texting someone and I smiled. What is the big deal?”

 

“You weren’t just smiling, San, you were beaming. Practically glowing, really. It was kind of alarming.”

 

“No I wasn’t!”

 

“Aha! So it’s someone you shouldn’t like!” Quinn stopped in front of her and pointed. “Curiouser and curiouser…”

 

“Wha…? How…?” Santana’s mouth dropped open and she stared at the girl with a frown. “You are...you know what, never mind. We’re going to be late for class.”

 

“Again,” she smirked as Santana pushed passed her. “So is this mystery person really the reason you were late?”

 

“I am seriously going to punch you if you don’t drop this.”

 

“Drop what?” Brittany asked as she joined them.

 

“Santana has a mystery text buddy,” Quinn said before Santana could stop her.

 

“Mystery? Why is it a mystery?”

 

“It’s not a mystery!” Santana said in exasperation. “Quinn just has an incredibly dull life.”

 

“You should have seen her, Britt,” Quinn laughed. “She couldn’t stop smiling. At one point she let out a snort she was laughing so hard.”

 

“Quinn, shut the fuck up!”

 

“Weird, I never pictured Rachel as funny,” Brittany said with a frown as she walked into the classroom.

 

Santana slammed her eyes shut with a grimace as Quinn stopped dead in front of her and began to turn towards her slowly. As she fixed her expression again she looked up at her friend and was met with narrowed hazel eyes and a mouth that was twitching in amusement.

 

“Rachel?”

 

Santana puffed out a breath and squared her shoulders. If she was going to do this she supposed she should really start telling people.  Who better to start with than her best friend? “Yes.”

 

“You were sexting Rachel?

 

“For the last time, we weren’t sexting…”

 

“Rachel Berry?” Quinn asked as she struggled to keep her laughter contained. “Manhands? Treasure trail?”

 

“Look Quinn…”

 

“Oh, my God, Santana…” she let out a quick laugh and stared across the hall, thoughts flashing across her face. “Now that I think about it it’s weirdly obvious.”

 

“I...what?”

 

“Yeah,” she gave her friend a big smile and linked her arm as they walked into class. “The two of you have always had this weird antagonistic thing going on. Now I think about it it’s obvious that it was just unresolved sexual tension.”

 

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Santana said with a baffled shake of her head.

 

“Maybe because it’s true?” Quinn dropped into her seat on one side of Brittany as Santana took her place on the other.

 

She sighed as she dropped her books on the table. She had been expecting laughter, mockery, disbelief, but this easy acceptance was just weird. Weirder still, Quinn had looked...well, she had kind of looked happy for her. That was just unnerving. How was it that both Quinn and Brittany, the two people who knew her best in the world, were so quick to believe that she would get involved with a loser like Berry?

 

She shook her head in disbelief and pulled out her phone.

 

_ So...Quinn knows. Sorry, probably should have asked you first but Britt kind of let the cat out of the bag. _

 

As she put her phone back in her pocket she shot a look at the taller blonde. She was slumped down in her chair staring at the board, a small frown creasing her brow.

 

“You okay, Britt?” Santana asked quietly.

 

“Yeah, fine,” she answered with a brief, halfhearted smile.

 

All further conversation was halted by the sudden, flustered arrival of Mrs Doosenberry. Santana’s eyes lingered on the girl’s face for a moment longer before turning her attention to the lesson.

 

* * *

 

  
  


Santana pulled her phone out as she made her way to English then shoved it back again with a frown. She had still not received a response from Rachel which was concerning her, and Quinn and Brittany’s reactions were still bothering her. As they had left Geography Quinn had winked at her and told her to ‘have fun in English’ and Britt had just repeated her half smile without meeting her eyes which had made her feel bad. Sure, the whole idea of fake dating Rachel was to make Britt jealous but now that it was actually happening she felt a little conflicted.

 

Truthfully she had had known that it wouldn’t feel good if the blonde reacted this way to her apparently seeing someone, she loved the girl, that was the whole point, she didn’t want to see her sad. What she hadn’t expected, though, was to feel annoyed by Britt’s reaction. She was with Artie, she had made her choice, and if she really loved her like she claimed she did she should be happy that Santana had found someone, that she was moving on instead of sitting pining after her. It wasn’t like she expected the girl to throw a party for her, they had too much history for that, but she could at least pretend.

 

Santana ran her hand over her hair and pulled at her ponytail with a sigh. This was so confusing. The plan was working, her ‘dating’ Rachel was clearly getting to Britt, she should be pleased.

 

So why did she just feel angry?

 

She looked up as she approached her classroom and broke into a grin as she saw Rachel waiting outside. The brunette’s eyes shifted towards her and a similar smile let up her face as well, her hands nervously pushing her hair behind her ear as Santana got closer.

 

“Hey, Rach,” she greeted her with a smirk. “Waiting for someone?”

 

“Maybe,” she replied with a shrug. “Or maybe just waiting to see if anyone interesting happened by.”

 

“Yeah, well good luck with that at this school,” Santana scoffed as she glanced at the passing students.

 

“So?” Rachel asked after a moment.

 

“So what?”

 

“So how did Quinn take it? Was she mad?”

 

“Why would she be mad?” Santana asked with a frown.

 

“I don’t know, it’s just…” she shifted uncomfortably and looked at the floor. “We get on a lot better than we used to, it’s just I’m not really...well, you know. You’re her best friend.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“So...well, I’m, you know, me. And you…”

 

“...have absolutely no idea what you’re getting at, Rachel,” Santana said with a shake of her head. “Spit it out. You don’t normally have trouble finding words. Usually the difficulty is in shutting you up.”

 

“Come on, Santana!” Rachel huffed, stamping her foot slightly in frustration. “The two of you hated me! You used to slushie me and call me names, make mean comments on my Myspace together, draw pictures of me in the bathroom…”

 

“Before we got to know you, Rachel,” she said, moving slightly closer and stopping her hand as it instinctively reached out for the girl. “That stopped the first year of Glee. Mostly.”

 

“Well, that’s not entirely…”

 

“You know what I mean,” she rolled her eyes. “There was no malice there after that. It was just teasing.”

 

“Maybe in your mind,” Rachel muttered. “It still hurt.”

 

“I don’t really know what you want me to say here,” Santana said, glancing about them uncomfortably as the bell rang.

 

“Nothing, it doesn’t matter,” she shook her head and gave a weak smile as she turned to enter the room. “I’ll talk to you after class.”

 

She walked off quickly leaving Santana to stare after her in confusion. What the fuck just happened? And why did she feel so bad that Rachel was upset? Sure, she used to be awful to the girl, she could admit it, but since they had been in Glee together she tried to change all that. She and Quinn had called a halt to the slushie attacks and after sectionals she had worked really hard to not do or say anything excessively hurtful to her. And Rachel always held her own, even got a little mean herself sometimes. How was she supposed to know the names were actually getting to her?

 

She walked into the class and looked at where Rachel was sitting and pulling out her books, before looking at her empty seat in the back. With a determined sigh she marched over to Rachel, walked past her and stopped in front of the bespectacled blonde chick sat next to her. 

 

“Move,” she said, staring at the girl who gawked back up at her.

 

“Santana!” Rachel hissed.

 

“Please,” she said to the girl, plastering on her best fake smile and pointing at her vacant seat.

 

“O...okay,” the girl stammered, gathering up her belongings quickly and scarpering off to the back of the room.

 

Santana sat down next to Rachel and turned to her, biting back a laugh at her scandalised expression. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I can’t take back what I did but I can apologise for being a raging bitch. I can’t offer any explanation other than I wanted to be at the top, I was angry and scared and you were an easy target to take all that out on and let people see that I wasn’t someone they wanted to mess with,” she paused with a shrug, uncertain as to why she was allowing this word vomit to continue. “And you kept fighting back. It made it interesting.”

 

Rachel nodded, her eyes on the table. After a moment she lifted her gaze to meet Santana’s. “Thank you.”

 

Santana frowned in confusion and opened her mouth to ask what she was thanking her for but was rudely interrupted by their English teacher clapping his hands for attention and directing them to chapter 12. Rachel immediately opened her book, a clear indicator that there would be no more conversation, so Santana sighed and did the same. She would just have to wait til later to get her answers.

 

“So,” she turned to Rachel as the bell rang. “You heading to lunch?”

 

“Um, no, actually,” Rachel said as she put her books in her bag. “I arranged to meet Finn in the choir room to work on the set list.”

 

“Oh. Okay.” Santana stood up and followed her to the door, an uncomfortable feeling settling in her stomach. She tried to push it away as they walked into the corridor and smiled brightly at the girl as they went to go their separate ways. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

 

“Yes,” she smiled back. “I look forward to it.”

 

“Yeah, me too,” she nodded as she realised she meant it.

 

“Enjoy the rest of your day, Santana,” Rachel waved as she backed into the crowd, turning to head towards the choir room and smiling back over her shoulder.

 

Santana waved back as she watched her leave, only heading her own way when the girl turned the corner.

 

* * *

 

The afternoon had been torturously slow, Santana’s mind drifting about and her mood unsettled. As she stepped out onto the field for practice that mood had definitely turned sour and she was not in the mood for the sloppy display the team were putting on.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” She yelled after one particularly poor formation. “Christy, straighten yourself up! You’re going to break your goddamn leg doing it that way, and if you don’t I will! Sort yourself out before you get someone seriously hurt.”

 

The girl turned beet red and fixed her stance as Santana yelled for them to start again. She felt someone standing behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see Quinn watching the group closely, her arms folded and her eyes hard.

 

“I swear to God, I’m going to slap that girl so hard she’ll think childbirth is a breeze,” she muttered as Santana barked another correction.

 

“She’d better get it together before Coach gets out here or she won’t be around to get slapped,” she answered. “No! Goddammit, we’ve done this a hundred times! Pop on six, not four! Again, from the break.”

 

They stood and watched as the group ran through it again, tighter this time but still far from the standard they needed. Santana shook her head as they finished and Quinn stepped forward with a clap.

 

“Alright guys, stop before my eyeballs explode from watching you suck so bad,” she said as she approached them. “Take five and get yourselves together. Coach will be out soon and she looks extra crazy today. Santana and I have had too long a week to be disposing of body parts.”

 

The group wandered dejectedly off to the sidelines as Quinn turned back to Santana with a grin.

 

“So, I missed you at lunch. I take it you had more exciting plans?”

 

“Not really,” Santana shrugged, turning to grab her kit bag off the ground and stuffing her things in it. “I wanted a churro so I went out for one.”

 

“Oh? Anyone go with you?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Oh,” she said, surprise in her voice. “Well, that’s...why not?”

 

“Because I don’t have to be accompanied everywhere, Q. I’m not exactly infirm.”

 

“Don’t be obtuse, Santana, you know what I’m talking about.”

 

“Let me take a wild stab in the dark,” she sighed as she stood and turned to face her. “Rachel?”

 

“Of course Rachel!” Quinn replied, throwing up her hands dramatically. “You guys had English together, I just assumed you had gone to lunch.”

 

“Yeah, well she had plans, so…” Santana put her hands on her hips and stared over at the squad. “I seriously don’t know what happened to these guys since last practice. It’s like they all got body swapped with retarded baby giraffes.”

 

“Yeah, they do seem a little unfocused,” she answered, her eyes on her friend and a frown on her face. “Plans?”

 

“What?”  Santana looked at her in confusion.

 

“Rachel. You said she had plans,” she said slowly, rolling her eyes. “I’m starting to wonder if you’re avoiding as usual or have actually suffered some sort of head injury.”

 

“Whatever,” she shot back, mimicking the action as she started over towards the squad.

 

“Santana,” Quinn sighed as she followed her. “The way I see it you have two options here. You can either talk to me and explain why you look like someone killed your puppy or you can keep yelling at these guys until you snap and someone ends up with a broken face.”

 

“Sounds good to me.”

 

“Yeah, but then I’d have to bail you out of jail and there’d be a long, boring trial and I really don’t see you in orange.”

 

Santana sighed and turned back to her. “Look, Quinn, I’m just tired and frustrated with these guys and their shoddy work. It has absolutely nothing to do with Rachel. Okay?”

 

“Alright,” Quinn said with a smirk. “So then you won’t mind telling me about her plans.”

 

“Cristo,” she muttered, her hands going back to her hips. “You seriously need a hobby, you know that?”

 

“Don’t need one,” she shrugged. “I have you. So, plans?”

 

“Working on the setlist with Finn,” Santana said with a shrug.

 

“Oh,” the blonde answered with a frown. “And are you...I mean, is he...like, does he know what’s going on with you two?”

 

“I don’t know,” she said with another shrug.

 

Quinn was silent for a moment as she gazed at the squad. “What is going on with you two?”

 

Santana sighed and looked at the ground. “It’s, ah, complicated, I guess?” She squinted up at the sky as she thought about what she should say.

 

“Complicated?” Quinn said with a sympathetic look. “Like how?”

 

“Like it’s...complicated.”

 

“Are you...I mean, have you…?”

 

“Jesus, Quinn,” she said with a soft chuckle, turning away and continuing to the edge of the field.

 

“Sorry, it’s just a bit...it’s Berry, you know?”

 

“Yeah,” she laughed. “I know.”

 

They walked side by side towards the group in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Santana had been itching to text Rachel all afternoon but had so far managed not to. Part of it was her stubborn pride not wanting to be the one to make the first move again, and part of her just realised she had no idea what to say. All she knew was that she didn’t like the idea of the girl spending time alone with Finn, they had been doing this on again, off again dance for the last two years and if they suddenly decided they were on again Santana’s plans would be ruined.

 

“I have to say, though,” Quinn said suddenly. “I really think that if you guys can make it uncomplicated you would be really good together. You're both stubborn and ambitious but I think you would really bring out the best in each other.”

  
“Seriously, Q,” she chuckled as the reached the edge of the field. “A hobby. Look it up.”


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 

Santana stopped at the edge of the park and stretched out her muscles, music blasting through her headphones and calming her nerves. She had no idea why she was suddenly nervous, she was only going to Berry’s house for God’s sake. She pulled her arms behind her head and took a few deep breaths as she stretched, then pulled out her phone and sent a text to let Rachel know she was on her way.

 

She set off at a slow jog and suddenly questioned her logic in going straight there. Surely she should go home and shower first? She paused briefly at the thought of turning up at Rachel’s house all sweaty from her run and then laughed at herself, shook her head and carried on. She was going to a friend’s house to rehearse, nothing more than that. Sure, they were pretending to be dating each other but that was it. She didn’t even know why she was worrying about it anyway, it wasn’t like she was a big stinky mess. 

 

Twenty minutes later she stood outside Rachel’s house, staring up at the place as she did a quick warm down and waited for the song to play out. Her stomach was bubbling again and it was starting to irritate her. What the hell was going on with her lately? She walked slowly up the path and tried to get her head in the game before she knocked on the door, waiting impatiently for the girl to answer.

 

“Santana, hi!” Rachel said excitedly as she swung the door open and waved her into the house.

 

“Hey,” she said, smiling at the girl’s enthusiasm. “I hope I’m not too early or anything.”

 

“No, no, right on time,” she said quickly as she led her towards the kitchen. “I decided just to go with something simple since you said you don’t like anything too heavy after you run so I made a chicken salad for you and there’s lots of fruit as well, but I have tuna or can make you scrambled eggs or an omelette or something if you…”

 

“Woah, Berry, breathe!” Santana chuckled as she put her hands on the shorter girl’s shoulders to hold her still. “Chicken salad sounds great. I was expecting some sort of vegan crap, I didn’t think food with meat in it existed in your world.”

 

“Whilst I am a vegan unfortunately my fathers, despite my constant efforts to the contrary, still prefer a carnivorous diet,” Rachel explained as she gestured for Santana to sit at the breakfast bar. “I am not so self righteous as everyone would make me out to be and will therefore set aside my personal beliefs to ensure the people I am cooking for enjoy their meal. To a point.”

 

“To a point?” Santana questioned as Rachel set the plate in front of her and handed her some water.

 

“Well, yes,” she shrugged as she reached for her own plate. “I have to know where the meat is sourced so I can be sure that the animals were treated as humanely as possible, and obviously there are certain foods I will never entertain, veal, foie gras, etc. But then I can’t imagine cooking for anyone who would request those anyway.”

 

“What if I took you to a fancy restaurant and ordered it there?” Santana winked as she tucked into her food.

 

“I would walk out and leave you there, Santana, it’s absolutely disgusting. Those poor animals are forced to…”

 

“Rachel, relax, I was joking,” she held her hand up in an effort to curtail her rant. “I know how they make it and you’re right, it’s disgusting. I’m sorry, no more jokes about eating morally offensive food, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

 

Rachel gave her a strange look and sat down opposite. “Sorry,” she said after a moment. “I tend to get a little…”

 

“It’s cool, don’t worry,” Santana smiled at her. “It was a bad joke. But good to know you’d walk out on me in a classy restaurant.”

 

“Well somehow I highly doubt we’ll ever be in a position to test that theory,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “How was your run?”

 

“Yeah, good. Got rid of some of the stress of yesterday.”

 

“Was practice that bad?”

 

“Awful,” she said with a shake of her head. “We have two weeks to get ourselves perfect and some of them are acting like they don’t even know where they are. It’s just embarrassing. And you know what Sue’s like, she doesn’t care who messes up, if it’s not working the whole squad is at fault.”

 

“I don’t know how you put up with her.”

 

“I hate her but she’s right,” she shrugged. “The judges won’t care if it’s one person or twenty. If the routine isn’t perfect we don’t win. Simple as that. And being punished as one brings a weird kind of unity. Prison mentality or whatever.”

 

“Still, there are other ways.”

 

“Maybe, but there’s a reason we keep winning, Rachel.”

 

“But that reason isn’t necessarily her,” she pointed out. “I’ve watched you for the last three years, Santana.”

 

“Well that’s a little creepy…”

 

“And you’re amazing,” Rachel continued, ignoring her comment. “You, Quinn and Brittany are the best cheerleaders I have ever seen and your squad are good, particularly this year. Granted, I don’t have as much knowledge about it all as you, but I do know a star when I see one, and you are definitely that.”

 

Santana set down her fork, not really sure how to respond to Rachel’s statement. Sure, she knew she was good but it was one thing to know it yourself, quite another to have someone else recognise it. Especially someone who didn’t even like you that much. “Thanks,” she said simply, clasping her hands in her lap as she suddenly felt too hot, and nodded at her empty plate. “This was really good, by the way.”

 

“I’m glad you liked it,” Rachel beamed as she gathered up their plates. “Do you want anything else?”

 

“No thanks, I’m good. You want to start?”

 

“Yes, soon, we should let our food settle for a moment though.”

 

“Sure, okay.” Santana nodded and glanced around the room, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable and wishing they could just get on with it. She searched for something to say and latched onto the first thing that popped into her head. “So, how did it go with Finn?”

 

“Finn?” Rachel glanced up at her in confusion.

 

“Yeah, you know, with the, er, set list?” 

 

“Oh, right. Yes, it was fine,” she nodded and wrapped her hands around her glass. 

 

“Did you, er, did you tell him?”

 

“Um, no, not really.”

 

“Not really?” Santana frowned and leaned on the table. “What does that mean? You either did or you didn’t. Right?”

 

“Well then no, Santana,” Rachel folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. “I did not tell him. I am sorry, I didn’t realise that our agreement involved telling everyone I have ever met immediately.”

 

“Well, it’s kind of a given, Berry. If you don’t tell anyone it’s less fake dating than it is secret dating, and that’s not really...”

 

“Maybe you’d prefer it if I walked around school wearing a shirt that says ‘property of Santana Lopez’ on it?” 

 

“You know, I think I would like that,” Santana smiled.

 

Rachel rolled her eyes as she stood up. She grabbed Santana’s glass and crossed over to the sink, washing the dishes as Santana chuckled to herself. She placed them on the drainer and dried her hands as she turned to face her.

 

“You never did tell me how Quinn took the news?”

 

“She laughed.”

 

“Huh,” she sat down again, a quick flash of hurt or anger crossing her face before she could pull it back. “Well, I suppose I should have expected that.”

 

“For about a second.” Santana took a quick breath and thought about what to say as Rachel looked up at her with a curious expression. “And then she said that it was obvious and she should have seen it sooner.”

 

“Obvious?” The brunette asked with a frown. 

 

“Yeah,” she said with a nervous laugh. “Apparently our bickering and antagonism could be interpreted as sexual tension.”

 

“I suppose,” Rachel mused with a shrug.

 

“What?” Santana choked. “In what world has there ever been sexual tension between you and me?”

 

“I’m not saying there is, or was, I’m just saying it’s not beyond the realms of possibility. To the outside observer, I mean.”

 

“Yeah, right,” she scoffed.

 

“You know, Santana,” Rachel huffed. “You are going to have to become a lot better at hiding the fact you find my physical appearance so repellent if you are going to successfully convince people we are a couple.”

 

“I don’t find you repellent!”

 

“Well, you certainly act like it most of the time,” she said, standing up and flicking her hair over her shoulder. “Come on, let’s try and rehearse.”

 

“Hey, I didn’t mean…”

 

“It’s fine, let’s just get on with it.”

 

Rachel turned and marched up the stairs leaving Santana to once again stare after her and try to work out what just happened.

 

* * *

 

 

Two hours later Santana flopped down on Rachel’s bed and rubbed at her face tiredly. True to her word Rachel had let her sing the Maureen part and they sounded good together, but singing the same song over and over again for two hours had taken its toll, especially the build at the end.

 

“I just think we should do it one more time.”

 

“No, Rachel, please, just stop!” Santana whined, her throat feeling raw at the effort of voicing her disapproval. “I need a break for a while. You’re making me hate the song. You’re making me hate all music.”

 

“Well that is obviously not my intention but there are points in the bridge where you are still going a little off and we need to…”

 

“I’m not off!” Santana sat up quickly and pointed at the shorter girl so fiercely that she took a step back.

 

“Not by much,” she said nervously. “And maybe to the untrained ear it wouldn’t be obvious but I can hear it and I just want us to be perfect.”

 

“We are perfect,” she muttered as she lay back down. “You’re just crazy.”

 

“Alright,” Rachel sighed. “We’ll take a break. Would you like a drink?”

 

“God, yes.”

 

“I didn’t mean alcohol, Santana.”

 

“I know,” she shot back, hoping her tone hid her disappointment.

 

“Alright, I’ll be right back.”

 

Santana closed her eyes and tried to ignore the ringing in her ears. Standing in front of Rachel Berry as she blasted high notes directly in your face for two hours was something she had entirely underestimated. She put a hand on her throat and moaned softly as she wondered, not for the first time, how exactly she had got herself into this situation. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, and Britt did seem awfully bent out of shape at the idea of her dating Rachel, but now that it came to actually going through with it there were things that she hadn’t really considered.

 

First off, she had realised that she didn’t know Rachel Berry like she thought she did. Sure, the traits that she had got used to over the years were still there, but they were a lot more toned down outside of school. And she was funny. Like really funny. Her jokes were clever and surprisingly sarcastic a lot of the time. She thought about everything and weighed her answers up before giving her, occasionally brutal, honest opinion.

 

Second of all, she was starting to get these weird nerves and tinglings more often around the girl and it was starting to really freak her out. Each time they ran through the song they moved closer and closer together as they built towards final chorus, so that by the end they were so close she could feel Rachel’s breath on her lips. She felt her guts twist as she thought about Rachel’s mouth, the way she had fought to keep her eyes from flicking to it as the song finished, and how one time she hadn’t been able to stop herself and looked down just as Rachel ran her tongue over her top lip. That had been the point she decided she needed a break.

 

Santana dropped her hands to her stomach and lolled her head towards the door as she heard Rachel coming back upstairs. She watched as the girl pushed the door open with her shoulder, tongue between teeth in concentration, eyes moving from the two steaming mugs in her hands down to the floor and across to Santana’s feet, up her toned, tan legs, over her tight black shorts, her lips parting slightly as her eyes came to rest briefly on her fingers splayed across her stomach before snapping up to lock with Santana’s eyes. Santana couldn’t move. What the hell was that? Did Rachel Berry just check her out? She realised she had stopped breathing and sucked in a quick breath.

 

Rachel cleared her throat and dropped her eyes back to the mugs, holding one out to Santana as she quickly crossed the room. “Here, it’s, ah, honey and lemon. It will help your throat.”

 

“Thanks,” she answered as she sat up and took the mug.

 

“You know you’re really very good, Santana. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

 

“You never do,” she chuckled.

 

“I know,” the brunette sighed as she sat down at the desk. “It’s just sometimes I feel like I hear things with so much more clarity than everyone else and I feel it’s my duty to let them know where they are falling short.”

 

“Did you ever think maybe they’re just okay with sucking?”

 

Rachel raised her eyebrow and looked for all the world like she was about to say something filthy but then bit down on her lip and shook her head softly. “I refuse to believe it. I only offer my opinions to people who are capable of great things and those people should not be satisfied with anything less than perfect.”

 

Santana thought about it as she sipped her drink. Maybe Berry was right, maybe she was a little off in the bridge. It was a very close harmony and if she was out by even a small amount it would make them sound awful. “Let me just finish this and we’ll run the bridge again. You tell me where I’m losing it.”

 

Rachel smiled gratefully at her and they sat quietly for a few moments, each seemingly lost in their own thoughts. Santana glanced over at the girl and was surprised to find her looking back, a strange look in her eye.

 

“I think I should kiss you.”

 

Santana choked on her drink and had to set the mug down on the bedside table as the hot liquid began to slosh on her legs from the force of her startled cough. “Excuse me?”

 

“I just think that in the course of our charade there will most likely come a point where we have to have some sort of public display of affection,” she said with a shrug. “I have never kissed a girl before so I think it only right I prepare. Plus, it would be good for us to know what it is like to kiss each other, that way there will be nothing unexpected when we kiss in public.”

 

“Uh, unexpected like how, Berry?” Santana asked with a raised eyebrow, her tone slightly concerned. “Do you do something freaky?”

 

“No of course not! At least I don’t think so. I’ve certainly never been informed of any unusual goings on by any of my former partners so…”

 

“Alright, alright,” she waved her hand to silence her, a tingling starting in her stomach. “So, you want to kiss me. Like, now?”

 

“Oh. Uh,” Rachel looked a little flustered suddenly. “Well, I suppose there’s no time like the present.”

 

“I guess you better come over here then.”

 

Rachel’s eyes went a little wider and she swallowed thickly as she stood up, set her drink aside and walked over to the bed. She sat next to Santana and smoothed her skirt down over her legs before turning to look at her, her cheeks tinged with pink and her breath shallow.

 

“Okay,” she said with a firm nod. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

 

“Relax, Rachel,” Santana smiled, seeing the brunette so nervous was really helping her get herself under control. “I’ve got this.”

 

She cupped Rachel’s face gently with her hands, running her thumbs lightly over the girl’s cheekbones as she looked into her eyes and closed the gap between them. She brushed their lips together briefly, then brought them together again, lingering longer as she felt Rachel start to relax under her touch and melt into the kiss. Her lips parted and Santana’s gut tightened as she was granted access to Rachel Berry’s incredibly talented mouth. Her heart slammed in her chest as she realised just how talented so she closed down the kiss and pulled away as she realised she was embarrassingly close to letting out a moan.

 

“Okay,” she said, clearing her throat as Rachel’s eyes snapped open. “So, nothing ‘unusual’. Do you feel more prepared now?”

 

“I, uh, I’m not really...I don’t know, I, uh,” Rachel shook her head a little and smoothed her skirt again. “Yes. Yes, thank you. I will know what to expect now. Your lips are very soft. Shall we try the song again?”

 

She jumped up quickly and went over to fiddle with her laptop, tucking her hair behind her ears as she went.

 

“Sure, Rach,” Santana chuckled softly as she walked over to join her, adding another thing she hadn’t taken into consideration to her list.

 

Third of all, Rachel Berry was a damn good kisser.

 

* * *

  
  


Santana arrived home around nine, her throat raw and a headache in full percussion mode. She had a brief conversation with her parents and kissed them good night before beating a hasty retreat to her room. Once there she closed the door and flopped down onto her bed gratefully.

 

So, that was what it was like to rehearse with Rachel Berry? It was a painful mix of exactly what she had expected and something she could not have prepared herself for in a million years. The girl was a slave driver, a perfectionist, and knew exactly what to do to get the best out of her partner.

 

“Wanky,” she smirked to herself, wincing as the action aggravated her headache. The kissing, sadly not repeated, had been a twist. She had kind of thought about the fact that she would probably have to kiss the girl at some stage but she definitely wasn’t expecting it today, behind closed doors, and for Rachel to be good at it.

 

No, not good. Fucking devastatingly good. Even now, just thinking about it, Santana could feel the heat rushing through her, and it was totally spinning her out. If someone had told her this time last year that she would be voluntarily making out with Rachel Berry and fucking loving it she would have buried them and returned once a week to pee on their grave. But now all she could do was wonder when she would have the opportunity to do it again.

 

She let out a groan at her new found and hard won patheticness and pushed herself off the bed, deciding that a long, hot bath might help her get her shit together. At least she hoped it would because she had no fucking clue what was going on with her right now, she just knew it wasn’t cool and she needed to get it under control if this plan was going to work. 

 

An hour later Santana crawled into bed, relaxed and headache free, her mind pleasingly devoid of complicated thoughts and her body heavy with tiredness. She got under the cover and yawned as she lay down, settled into her pillows with a smile and closed her eyes, for the first time in weeks falling asleep without any thoughts of Brittany flashing through her brain.

  
Instead she thought of Rachel.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 

Monday rolled around quickly and Santana walked down the hallway with a strange feeling of anticipation running through her. She opened her locker and pulled out the books she needed, greeting Quinn as she stopped to wait for her.

 

“So, good weekend?” The blonde asked with a smirk as the joined the stream of students flowing down the corridor.

 

“Yeah, pretty good once I got Friday out of the way,” she nodded. “Pretty quiet but good. You?”

 

“Same,” she shrugged. “See much of Berry?”

 

Santana shot her a quick look and tightened her grip on her books. “Some. We were rehearsing on Saturday.”

 

“Oh?” Quinn quirked an eyebrow. “Is that what we’re calling it now?”

 

“Very funny,” she snarked. “She wants us to this duet in Glee so we were working on that.”

 

“Well, that sounds...awful.”

 

“Hey!”

 

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean that, I meant just the idea of being stuck in a room with Berry rehearsing the same song for hours sounds like my idea of hell,” Quinn said with a shake of her head. “But I’m sure you found a way to make it bearable.”

 

Santana couldn’t help the smile that played on her lips and Quinn let out a chuckle when she saw it. At that moment Rachel came round the corner and started walking directly towards them, locking eyes with Santana as she spotted them, a shy smile on her face.

 

“Good morning Santana, Quinn,” she said as she reached them, a soft blush settling on her cheeks as she greeted the blonde. “How was the rest of your weekend?”

 

“Yeah, good, thanks,” Santana answered with a nod. “How was yours?”

 

“Fine, thank you.”

 

They stood there awkwardly for a few moments, Santana could feel Quinn’s confused frown flicking between the two of them as the few moments rapidly moved towards thirty seconds. She cleared her throat and shifted her weight between her feet.

 

“So, we should probably get to…”

 

“Yes, of course,” Rachel pushed her hair behind her ears and moved to the side. “I’ll see you later. At Glee if not before.”

 

“Yeah, great,” she smiled and started off down the hall. “See you later, Rachel.”

 

Rachel smiled back and waved to the pair of them as they walked away from her, a look in her eyes that Santana wasn’t quite able to work out. She glanced back over her shoulder and saw Rachel frowning as she turned to walk off.

 

“What the hell was that?” Quinn asked as she caught up. 

 

“What do you mean?” Santana asked distractedly.

 

“I mean that was seriously awkward,” she said, looking at her friend. “Did you guys get into a fight or something?”

 

“No.”

 

“Oh. Wait, did you…?”

 

“Jesus, Quinn, seriously?” Santana stopped and faced her friend with a glare. “Since when did you become so interested in my sex life?”

 

“As if!” Quinn scoffed, her eyes flicking down the corridor.

 

“Right,” she smirked. “So you weren’t just about to ask me if we fucked over the weekend?”

 

“Gross, Santana,” she said, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

 

“I’m glad you think so. Keep that in mind next time you want to go digging around in my business,” Santana smiled sweetly and turned back the way they had just come. “I’ll catch you up.”

 

“Where are you going?”

 

Santana ignored her and jogged down the hallway after Rachel. She honestly didn’t know why their brief exchange had been so awkward, she just knew that she had got all tongue tied and nervous as the girl approached. She had spent all day Sunday resisting the urge to text her and see if she wanted to meet up and as soon as she had appeared she had had the uncomfortable realisation that she had missed her. And now here she was running after Rachel Berry through the crowded hallways of McKinley first thing on a Monday morning. She laughed at herself and shook her head. Seriously, what was going on with her?

 

“Rachel!” 

 

The brunette turned, a confused look on her face, and waited for Santana to catch her up. “Are you alright?”

 

“Funny,” she chuckled as she stopped in front of her. “I was just wondering that myself.”

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing,” Santana took a breath and tried to sort out her head. “I just wondered if you wanted, maybe, to, er, but I guess you probably already have plans, so…”

 

“Santana,” she said softly, taking her hand with a smile. “If you could maybe just ask me then I can tell you if I have plans.”

 

“Yeah, right,” she answered with a tight smile. Seriously, Lopez, get it together. “Lunch? Do you want to meet for lunch?”

 

“Yes, I would love to,” Rachel smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. 

 

“Okay, great,” she let out a relieved chuckle and started to back off. “I’ll see you then.”

 

“Great.”

 

Santana gave her a quick wave and turned to sprint off after Quinn, a huge grin plastered on her face. She rolled her eyes at herself as she rounded the corner and arrived at the room just as the bell rang. She had no idea why she was suddenly enjoying Rachel Berry’s company so much but the idea of meeting her at lunch made her happy and happiness was an emotion that had been sadly lacking over the last six months so fuck it. She dropped into her seat next to Quinn and immediately felt her eyes on her.

 

“Dare I ask?”

 

“Only if you want graphic details,” she smirked as Quinn tutted and rolled her eyes.

 

* * *

 

  
  


As the bell rang for lunch she sent Rachel a text telling her to meet her by her car, quickly stopped by her locker to drop off her books and headed outside. She slipped on her sunglasses and swung her keys round her fingers, humming to herself as she scanned the parking lot for the shorter girl. She reached her car and leaned against it to wait.

 

After a few minutes Rachel appeared, a puzzled smile on her face. “Why are we meeting at your car?”

 

“Because we’re going out, obviously,” Santana chuckled, unlocking the car and climbing in.

 

“Okay,” she said as she got in the other side and buckled her seatbelt. “Why?”

 

“Why not?”

 

“I just thought you would want people to see us together,” Rachel shrugged. “That’s kind of the point isn’t it?”

 

“Yeah, but there’s plenty of time for that. And I want a churro.”

 

“Of course,” she laughed.

 

“Why are you laughing?” Santana smiled, shooting a glance at her as she pulled out of the school.

 

“Nothing, it’s just that you often seem to want churros.”

 

“Well that is because they are delicious.”

 

“Alright,” she laughed again. “I’ll take your word for it.”

 

“Wait a second,” Santana said dramatically, narrowing her eyes at the girl. “Are you seriously telling me you’ve never had a churro?”

 

“Yes, Santana, I am afraid I am.”

 

“Unacceptable, Rachel Berry. Unacceptable.”

 

“Well then it’s a good thing we are about to rectify the situation, isn’t it?” Rachel said with a smile.

 

“Yeah,” she turned to her as they stopped at the lights. “It is.”

 

As they drove on they talked about their respective mornings, exchanged interesting bits of gossip, Santana leaning on the door after she parked up and watching Rachel as she finished her rant on the shortcomings of their aging Math teacher as an educator, her amusement bubbling up into a laugh. Since when was she amused by Berry’s rants?

 

“And that is why, in short, I believe that the retirement age should be lowered,” she said, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “I fail to see why my education should suffer because someone is forced to continue working when in their mind they have already checked out and are sitting on a beach in Florida. Oh, we’re here.”

 

“Yeah, well I didn’t want to interrupt,” Santana chuckled, opening the door and jumping out.

 

Rachel gave her a strange look and got out of the car, falling into step beside her as they crossed the street and headed for an unassuming store on the other side. Santana pushed the door open and greeted the man behind the counter warmly as the familiar scents of the place washed over her. 

 

“Hola, Miguel, que pasa?” 

 

“Hola, chica!” Miguel beamed at her, wiping his hands and leaning on the register as she approached. She had a brief conversation with him in Spanish until he gestured behind her. “Quien es ese?”

 

“Mi amiga, Rachel,” she replied, turning to follow his gaze. The place wasn’t much, just a small space with a counter and a few tables and chairs, several pictures and posters dotted around the walls, but Rachel was looking about with her usual rabid interest.

 

“Mm-hmm,” he said with a chuckle. She turned back to face him and rolled her eyes at his knowing smile.

 

“Rachel, get over here so I can introduce you to my ‘friend’ Miguel,” she drawled, shooting him a look in the hopes he would behave.

 

“Nice to meet you, Rachel,” he smiled.

 

“Likewise,” she smiled back. “This is a lovely place, so cosy and it smells really good.”

 

“I am glad you like it,” he laughed. “What can I get for you ladies?”

 

“Two churros, please,” Santana answered. “And make sure they’re good, I just found out Rachel here has never had one.”

 

“Never had a churro?” Miguel frowned. “How is this possible if she is your friend?”

 

“Shut up, I don’t eat that many.”

 

“We used to refer to you as ‘churro chica’ before we knew your name,” he chuckled as he prepared their food.

 

Rachel laughed at this exchange, her amusement increasing as Santana scowled between them and Miguel shot her a wink.

 

“Yeah, well maybe I take my business elsewhere in future, huh?”

 

“Come on, Santana, you know we have the best churros in Ohio. Where else would you go?”

 

“I’m sure I could find somewhere,” she huffed. “Maybe I’ll make my own.”

 

“Mm-hmm,” he smirked. “Take a seat, ladies.”

 

They walked over to a table in the corner of the room and sat down, Rachel still chuckling away to herself, and Santana couldn’t help but be amused.

 

“It’s not funny,” she said, her mouth betraying her by twitching up into a smile. “He just lost his best customer.”

 

“I’m sure that’s not true, and if it tastes half as good as it smells I have a feeling I may take your place,” Rachel said before reaching over the table to touch her hand. “Thank you for bringing me here, Santana. It really is a lovely little place.”

 

“Yeah, it is,” she replied, looking down at their hands, a warmth spreading through her from the touch.

 

Rachel pulled her hand away quickly and cleared her throat. “So I was thinking we should do our song today?”

 

“Really?” Santana snapped her eyes up and dropped her hand into her lap. “I thought you wanted it to be perfect?”

 

“I do,” she nodded firmly. “And I think it will be.”

 

“That’s not really the impression I got on Saturday,” she chuckled.

 

“Yes, I know, and I’m sorry about that,” Rachel said earnestly, chocolate brown eyes wide and locked on her own. “I know I can be a taskmaster but it’s only because I know how good you are and I want to push you to be your best.”

 

Santana did her best to hide her surprise and nodded. “Well alright then. Let’s do it.”

 

Rachel beamed at her from across the table and sat back in her chair as Miguel called to her from the counter. She stood up and crossed over to pay him, giving him a playful glare as she approached. They said their goodbyes and Santana was turning to leave as he spoke again.

 

“She is a new friend?”

 

“Something like that,” she answered with a shrug.

 

“Mm-hmm,” he nodded as he wiped his hands. “It is good to see you smile again.”

 

She glanced up at him in surprise, looking away again quickly and turning away as he waved over at Rachel.

 

“Adios, Rachel. Enjoy your churro and I hope to see you again.”

 

“I am sure I will,” she smiled as she followed Santana to the door. “And I’m sure I will be back.”

 

Santana held the door for her as she waved goodbye, not missing the pointed look Miguel gave her as she left. She frowned slightly as they headed back across the road to the car.

 

“Are you okay?” Rachel asked as they got in.

 

“Hmm? Ah, yeah, sure,” she handed Rachel her churro with a smile and watched as she unwrapped it with a slightly nervous expression. “It’s a churro, Rach, not a snake,” she laughed.

 

“I know, but it’s a big moment, Santana!” Rachel said pushing her hair behind her ear. “What if I don’t like it? You might never speak to me again!”

 

“Oh my God, calm down!” Santana laughed. “Just eat the damn churro and stop being such a drama queen.”

 

She unwrapped her own without ceremony and took a large bite, sinking back into her seat with a sigh as she chewed. Rachel watched her for a few seconds then took a slow bite, her eyes going wide as the taste hit her.

 

“Oh my God,” she mumbled as she chewed.

 

“Oh my God good?” Santana asked cautiously.

 

“Oh my God amazing!” Rachel cried before letting out a moan. “It’s delicious, Santana, thank you so much!”

 

Santana laughed and took another bite, almost choking in surprise as Rachel leaned across the car and pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the cheek. “You’re welcome,” she said with a nervous chuckle, looking down at her churro as Rachel released her and pulled away. She glanced back up and noticed a soft blush creeping into the girl’s cheeks, her eyes darting to Santana’s eyes, then her mouth, before dropping down to her own hands as she swallowed and licked her lips.

 

“Sorry, it’s just, ah, it’s really, really good,” she said quietly with a shy smile.

 

“S’okay,” Santana replied, fiddling with her wrapper and trying not to look at Rachel’s lips. She cleared her throat and put the keys in the ignition. “We should probably get back.”

 

“Yes,” Rachel said with a cough. “I suppose we should.”

 

* * *

  
  


The rest of the day passed quickly and she found herself heading to Glee with a sense of nervous excitement that she hadn’t really experienced since she sang Valerie at Sectionals. When she walked through the door Rachel was talking to Finn near the piano and she gave her a small smile as she passed on her way to her usual seat at the back. After a minute Quinn walked in and took a seat next to her, Brittany and Artie arriving shortly after her, the blonde looking up at her with a wave before sitting next to her boyfriend at the front. Santana waved back with a distracted smile, her mind already on her performance.

 

“Good lunch?” Quinn asked.

 

“Yeah, pretty good.”

 

“Where’d you go?”

 

“For a churro.”

 

“Again?” Quinn scoffed. “Seriously, Santana, I’m starting to think you have a problem.”

 

“Jesus, what is it with everyone implying I’m some kind of churro fiend today?” Santana sighed with a tired shake of her head. “I found out Rachel never had one so I took her to get one, okay?”

 

“How sweet,” she smirked. “And did Ms Berry enjoy her new experience?”

 

Santana shot her a look. “She liked it fine.”

 

“Good.”

 

“Alright guys,” Mr Schuester said with a clap as he entered the room. “Lots to do, let’s get started.”

 

“Mr Schue,” Rachel started as she stepped in front of him. 

 

“Rachel,” he sighed, dodging her and heading to the board. “I’m sure whatever you have prepared is wonderful but we really need to get on with our preparation.”

 

“This is preparation! I have been working on a duet with…”

 

“Ah, Rach,” Finn cut her off. “I’m not really ready to…”

 

“No, not that one, Finn,” she interrupted. “Santana and I have something we’ve been working on.”

 

There was a series of surprised murmurs from around the room and Mr Schue stopped writing mid word and turned to look at Santana in confusion.

 

“Really? Uh, I mean...ah, great. Let’s hear it then.”

 

Santana sucked in a breath and stood up, grateful for Quinn’s supportive pat on the arm as she made her way down to the front. Rachel smiled at her and she forced her game face on as she took her position and turned to face her stunned teammates. She had no idea why she was suddenly so nervous and tried desperately to push it down as Brad played the first notes on the piano.

 

“Every single day I walk down the street…” she started, her nerves instantly calmed and replaced by an almost overwhelming urge to laugh at the look of complete and utter shock on Kurt’s face at her singing the Maureen part and not Rachel. “I hear people say ‘baby so sweet’. Ever since puberty everybody stares at me, boys, girls, I can’t help it baby.”

 

She shot a wink up at Quinn as she smiled and settled into her role, dancing slightly more seductively around Rachel than they had planned but the girl played along perfectly, slapping her hands away and rolling her eyes as if they had rehearsed it a hundred times. As she reached the end of her verse she draped her arms around the shorter girl’s neck and leaned in.

 

“Kiss, pookie?”

 

A strange expression came across Rachel’s eyes and she looked to be on the verge of leaning in before she quickly shook her head and grabbed Santana’s arms.

 

“It won’t work, I look before I leap,” she sang, pulling herself out of Santana’s arms and walking away. Santana smirked and followed her, running her fingers lightly up the girl’s arm as she stopped at the front of the room. “I love margins and discipline,” Rachel brushed her hand away quickly, staring down at it as Santana brought it straight back and moved in closer. “I make lists in my sleep, baby. What’s my sin? Never quit, I follow through,” Rachel span round and grabbed Santana’s hands, pulling them to her chest as she adopted an imploring expression. “I hate mess but I love you. What to do with my impromptu baby?”

 

Santana rolled her eyes and pulled away, stalking across to the other side of the room as Rachel followed her and sang the end of her verse. It was strange, it was different choreography than they had practiced but it felt more real somehow. She turned quickly and moved right into Rachel’s space as they got to the bridge, forcing her to back up towards the centre of the room. The shorter girl held her ground after a few paces and they sang directly into each other’s face, eyes burning with a passion that had not been there in Rachel’s room.

 

As they broke away from each other for the final chorus Santana couldn’t stop herself glancing back over her shoulder and found Rachel doing the same. Slowly they turned towards each other again and moved back to the middle of the room, Santana’s stomach twisting as she stared into Rachel’s dark eyes and sang the final notes.

 

“Take me baby...or leave me,” they sang, Santana’s hand up in front of her as she backed away. “Guess I’m leaving. I’m gone.”

 

The choir room erupted in applause and Santana looked up at Quinn with a smile as the blonde started whistling, and then was almost knocked off her feet as Rachel barrelled into her and pulled her into a hug.

 

“Okay, Rach, easy,” she laughed, hugging her back but stiffening slightly as she caught Brittany’s eye and saw her expression.

 

“Wow, ladies,” Mr Schue laughed. “That was awesome! Really great work!”

 

“Thanks, Mr Schue,” Rachel smiled as she pulled away and walked over to take a seat between Kurt and Mercedes, beaming at Santana as she made her way back to her own seat.

 

“Well, anyone ready to follow that?” Schue asked as he looked around the room. “No? Alright then, I suppose now would be a good time to have a look at this group number I thought would be good for us.”

 

He picked up some sheet music and passed the stack to Mike before bursting into an effusive monologue about the song and it’s inception. Puck turned in his seat to pass the stack to her and Quinn with a wink.

 

“Hot,” he smirked, oblivious to the glare Finn shot him as he turned back to the front.

 

“It was definitely intense,” Quinn chuckled quietly.

  
Santana glanced at her and turned back to the music, a smile tugging at her lips as she turned to hand the pile to Sam. She felt eyes on her and looked up just in time to see Brittany look away as Artie whispered something in her ear.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 

Santana was lying on her bed later that night watching some show she wasn’t really paying attention to when her phone buzzed beside her. She picked it up with a yawn and unlocked the screen.

 

_ I really enjoyed today. R x _

 

She smiled broadly and sat up as she typed her reply.

 

_ Yeah, me too. It was a lot of fun. I guess I’m ready for my second assignment ;) _

 

She sat and watching impatiently as her phone indicated that Rachel was typing a response. After a few seconds she rolled her eyes at herself for her pathetic behaviour and forced herself to put the phone down and focus her attention on the film. Show. Whatever it was she was attempting to watch. The minute the phone buzzed again she snatched it up off the bed and unlocked it, cursing herself as she got the code wrong and had to do it again.

 

_ I have a few ideas but I haven’t fully decided on one yet. If you’re free we should get together tomorrow and talk it through? Another fake date at Breadsticks maybe? _

 

Santana smiled and started to tap in a reply, frowning in consternation as the text screen suddenly disappeared. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise as she realised she had an incoming call from Brittany and she almost dropped the phone, stupidly looking around the room for no apparent reason before sliding her finger across the screen to answer.

 

“Hey, Britt,” she said quickly. “What’s up?”

 

“Hey San,” the blonde replied, her tone sad.

 

“Are you okay?” Santana asked in concern, shifting herself over to the edge of the bed. “You don’t sound too good.”

 

“I just, it’s stupid, really,” Brittany sighed and tailed off.

 

“It’s okay, you can talk to me about anything, you know that,” she said softly.

 

She sat on the edge of the bed and waited for her to speak, all thoughts of anything else forgotten as she listened to the silence at the other end of the phone.

 

“I’m sorry to call you, I just didn’t know who else to talk to,” Brittany said quickly.

 

“Britt, it’s okay, just tell me.”

 

“I had a huge fight with Artie after school,” she sighed. “He just started being really mean for no reason and then we started yelling at each other and...well, I think we’re broken up, San.”

 

Santana dropped her forehead into her hand to try and calm the thoughts that were suddenly swarming around her brain, a smile pulling at her lips as her heart pounded in her chest. “You think? You don’t know? How did you leave it?”

 

“I can’t really remember, it all happened so quickly and I got so upset, I…” Brittany paused again, sounding dangerously close to tears. “He called me stupid, Santana.”

 

“That fucking asshole,” she clenched her fist, rage bubbling up inside her. “I’ll fucking bury that son of a bitch.”

 

“No, don’t do that,” Brittany said quickly. “I don’t want to have to visit you in prison, I’d miss you too much.”

 

“Britt,” she chuckled, lying back on the bed. “I wouldn’t…”

 

“I miss you now,” she said quietly.

 

Santana’s heart clenched uncomfortably in her chest. She had waited so long for this moment and now that it was here she felt...weird.

 

“Are you busy after school tomorrow?”

 

“No,” Santana said as she sat back up, her mind spinning as she tried to work out what was wrong. “No plans.”

 

“Do you want to maybe get together?” Brittany asked hopefully. “I really miss spending time with you. I love you.”

 

Santana closed her eyes and bit her lip. “Love you too, Britt.”

 

“So I’ll see you after school?”

 

“Yeah,” she said, clearing her throat. “Of course.”

 

“Great,” the blonde said brightly. “Thanks, San, you’ve really made me feel better.”

 

“That’s what I’m here for,” Santana answered with a tight laugh.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Sleep well.”

 

“Night, Britt.”

 

Santana ended the call and dropped the phone onto the bed as she lay down with a sigh. There were too many emotions flooding through her and she couldn’t focus enough on any of them enough to work out what the hell was going on. She lay there for a few moments and tried to calm herself down before giving up and making a decision. This was what she wanted. This was what she had been working for. Now it had happened and she was happy about it. She didn’t know why part of her felt sad, or confused, maybe even guilty, so she was just going to ignore it and go with the flow.

 

She sat up and ran her hand through her hair. She was starting to feel angry and the fact she didn’t know why was pissing her off even more.

 

“Fuck it,” she muttered, crossing over to her desk and pulling a pack of cigarettes out of the drawer, grabbing her jacket off the chair and heading out for a walk to calm herself down, her phone forgotten on the bed.

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning Santana rushed into school late, her mind still swarming with thoughts she couldn’t pin down, and scanned the halls for Rachel. She had gotten home around midnight and picked up her discarded phone to set her alarm, noticing her half typed response to the girl as she unlocked her phone. Knowing it was too late to reply at the time she mentally berated herself and promised to find her first thing to apologise and explain the situation. Then, of course, she had overslept and Rachel was nowhere to be seen.

 

She sighed as she took her seat and ran through her schedule for the day in her head, hoping she would have a class with her. Tuesday, that meant English, right? Nope, that was Wednesday and Friday. Seriously, how could English be the only class they had together? And why was it that all week Rachel seemed to be everywhere she went and now, when it mattered, she had suddenly disappeared? She huffed in irritation and pulled out her phone.

 

_ Hey, sorry I didn’t text you back last night, something came up. I was hoping to catch you this morning but I overslept. Are you free at lunch? _

 

She stared at her phone for a few minutes in the hopes that Rachel would reply straight away but it stayed resolutely silent. She shoved it back in her pocket angrily and tried to focus on what was going on. Anything to give her mind something else to think about.

 

As she walked to her next class she checked again but still nothing. She frowned at the device as if it were solely responsible for this radio silence and unlocked the screen to make sure it was actually working, huffing loudly as the screen lit up and showed no new messages.

 

“What’s the matter with you?” Quinn asked as she popped up beside her.

 

“Nothing.”

 

“Wow,” her friend said, leaning away with an arched eyebrow. “Okay.”

 

“What?” Santana snapped as they walked into class.

 

“Nothing!”

 

“Jesus, Quinn, whatever,” she sank down into her chair and rubbed her eyes. “I’m so not in the mood for you shit today.”

 

“Hey!” Quinn snapped back, eyes narrowed. “If you want to talk about it I’ll listen but don’t take your crap out on me, Santana, I’m not your damn punching bag.”

 

She turned away from her and began pulling her books out of her bag angrily, leaving Santana to stew in her own thoughts for a while. She glared at the back of her blonde head for a moment and then yanked her phone out of her pocket again, slamming it down on the desk when it still gave her nothing.

 

The teacher arrived and started the lesson, once again providing her with welcome distraction as she had now apparently managed to piss off two of her friends. This was turning out to be one hell of a day. As the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson she put her hand on Quinn’s arm to stop her from leaving.

 

“You’re right, I was a bitch,” she muttered as they stood up.

 

“Well,” Quinn said tightly. “As that’s the closest to an apology I’m likely to get from you I guess it’ll do.”

 

“Thanks,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

 

“So what’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing, really, it’s stupid,” she sighed as they pushed through the crowded hall. “I kind of flaked out on Berry in the middle of a conversation last night and I think she might be kinda pissed at me.”

 

“Yeah, I think I’m going to need some context,” Quinn said as she opened her locker. “What kind of conversation was it?”

 

“Text.”

 

“And dare I ask what you were talking about?”

 

“God, your mind recently,” Santana smirked. “She has some ideas for another duet and wanted to meet to discuss them.”

 

“Okaaay,” she said with a confused frown. “But aren’t you guys dating? Why would you need a special arrangement?”

 

“Well, yeah, but, uh,” Santana cursed herself. She had really not thought this through. “It’s just kind of…”

 

“Complicated?” Quinn supplied.

 

“Yeah,” she muttered gratefully. “Anyway, I might have stopped answering when she asked me to meet tonight.”

 

“Why? Because you don’t want to?”

 

“No, it wasn’t like that. I got interrupted and then I forgot.”

 

“You forgot that you were in the middle of a conversation with your sort of girlfriend?” Quinn said with a frown.

 

“It...look, it was…” Santana searched her brain for the words to explain, then gave up with a sigh and leaned heavily against the locker. “Britt called.”

 

“Santana…” her friend said wearily, leaning next to her with a concerned look on her face.

 

“Don’t give me that,” she muttered, glancing around the corridor as she continued quietly. “She broke up with Artie.”

 

“What?”

 

“Probably.”

 

“What?!”

 

“She can’t really remember because she was upset but she wants to meet up with me tonight and…”

 

“Are you out of your goddamn mind?” Quinn hissed, grabbing her arm and dragging her towards the closet bathroom.

 

“Ow!” Santana yelped as she was manhandled through the door, the frightened freshman on the other side beating a hasty retreat at Quinn’s death stare. “What the fuck, Quinn?”

 

“Seriously? You’re asking me that?”

 

“You just about wrenched my arm out the socket!”

 

“You’re lucky I didn’t slap you!” Quinn yelled. “I still might, actually. Maybe it will knock some sense into your thick head!”

 

“Fuck you, you have no idea what you’re talking about,” she scowled, rubbing her arm as she leaned against the sink.

 

“Oh, really? You feel bad because you’re flaking out on a girl who might actually be really good for you to go chasing after someone who already rejected you once because she may possibly have broken up with her boyfriend.”

 

Santana opened her mouth to respond but realised she had nothing to offer in her own defence so closed it again with a glare, an uneasy feeling creepy up in her stomach as Quinn’s words sank in.

 

“San,” she said with a sigh, resting her hip on the edge of the sink next to her and folding her arms. “I love Britt, you know I do, and I know how you felt about her but she broke your heart and I can’t just sit here and watch you go through that again.”

 

“But it won’t be like that this time!” Santana said firmly, her anger starting to bubble up once more. “She knows how I feel about her and we’re both single so…”

 

“Sort of.”

 

“Jesus, Quinn, I’m single, alright? The thing with Berry was an act! I wanted to make Britt jealous, Rachel agreed to help me and it worked so just fucking leave it, okay?”

 

“I wasn’t talking about you, Santana,” Quinn said quietly after a moment.

 

“What?”

 

“I was talking about Britt.” Quinn turned to face the mirror and fiddled with her hair. “And I’m not an idiot, I kind of figured out what was going on with Rachel. Or what was supposed to be going on.”

 

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“I think you need to figure that part out for yourself,” she sighed, turning to leave but pausing with her hand on the door. “I honestly haven’t seen you so happy in months as you’ve been this last week, San. Just promise me you won’t do anything with Britt til you’re sure, okay?”

 

With that she walked out the door leaving Santana to stare after her and wonder, once again, what the hell just happened. She turned and looked at herself in the mirror, slightly shocked by the scowl on her face, and stared into her own eyes in an effort to understand what was going on in her head. After a few minutes she dropped her gaze to the sink wondering why she suddenly felt so sad.

 

* * *

 

 

As she exited the bathroom she caught sight of Rachel turning the corner at the end of the hall and set off running to catch her up. This was become a theme with her recently, she noted ruefully. Who’d have thought it?

 

“Rachel!” Santana called as she turned the corner. “Hey, Rachel!”

 

The brunette stopped and slowly turned towards her, a smile on her face that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

 

“Good morning, Santana,” she greeted her as she came to a halt in front of her. “How are you?”

 

“Yeah, good, thanks. Listen, I’m sorry about…”

 

“Oh that’s alright,” Rachel said, her eyes drifting down the corridor as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “I saw your message, I just didn’t really have a chance to reply because I have some plans for lunch but they are quite involved so I felt that in order to fully explain myself I would have had to take more time away from the lesson than I could in good conscience afford to.”

 

“Or,” she countered with a smile once the girl had paused for breath. “You could have just said you were busy. You don’t need to explain yourself to me, Rachel.”

 

“Nor you to me, Santana,” she replied with a nod. “I really should get going, though, I do have a lot to do.”

 

“Okay,” Santana frowned in confusion. “Can I walk with you, though? I kind of need to talk to you.”

 

Rachel glanced around them as if looking for a reason to say no, then flashed a quick smile and turned to walk away. “Certainly. But as I said before you really don’t need to explain anything.”

 

“Why are you being weird?” 

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“You’re being all...Berry with me,” she muttered. “You know, all stiff and formal.”

 

“I am being nothing of the sort, Santana, I am behaving exactly as I always do,” she shot back, flicking her hair over her shoulder with a huff.

 

“Rach,” she sighed, putting her hand on her arm to get her to stop and face her. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I got interrupted and by the time I got my shit together it was too late to text you back.”

 

“Please, Santana,” Rachel said softly, her eyes on the floor. “I already told you it’s fine. You don’t need to explain anything and I really have to go, so…”

 

“Why do you keep saying that?” Santana asked, as Rachel’s words suddenly hit her.

 

“What?”

 

“Why do you keep saying that I don’t need to explain anything? Like I’ve done something that requires explanation?”

 

“Well, I…” she looked at her in confusion, a blush creeping into her cheeks. “Nothing, you just seem to be trying to explain.”

 

“No, I’m trying to apologise and tell you that I can’t meet you tonight,” she said, stepping back and folding her arms. “What’s going on, Rachel?”

 

“Nothing!” 

 

“It’s clearly not nothing, your face looks like it’s about to burst into flames and you won’t even look at me!”

 

“What do you want me to say, Santana?” Rachel said through gritted teeth. “It’s all over school that Brittany and Artie broke up, your plan worked so there’s really no need for you to carry on this little charade any more, is there?”

 

Santana’s hand tightened into fists as she hugged herself and her mouth fell open as she stared down at the shorter girl. She honestly felt like she’d been punched in the gut. “Is that what you think I’m doing?”

 

“What?” Rachel asked after a moment, looking up at her in confusion.

 

“Did you honestly think I would just go back to how we were before the minute Britt broke up with Artie?”

 

“I…” she started, her eyes darting about the place wildly. “Well, I...well, why wouldn’t you?”

 

Santana’s hands dropped to her sides, an unexpected hurt crushing the air out of her lungs. “Honestly I have no idea,” she muttered, turning on her heel and walking away quickly.

 

* * *

 

 

Santana leaned on her car after school, her head pounding and a heaviness on her shoulders that she couldn’t believe. This had been an awful day and she just wanted it to be over. Instead here she sat, waiting for Brittany as she had been for the last six months, wondering why she didn’t feel better about the fact that this time she was actually coming.

 

She was so mad at Rachel. She really thought they’d gotten close over this last week, and sure, it was too short a time for them to really call themselves friends but for her to be so willing to believe that Santana would just toss her aside at the earliest opportunity...well, it spoke volumes about how little Rachel thought of her.

 

And honestly, why did she even care? She’d had fun with the girl, much more than she had expected, and found in her someone she could talk to easily about anything that popped into her mind, someone she could laugh with and be stupid with, someone she could show new things to, and learn new things from. She was supportive, and understanding, and stubborn as hell. She wouldn’t take her shit and gave as good as she got. And the way she kissed…

 

Santana straightened up, startled by the sudden thought and by how it suddenly changed the rest of her musings. She knocked against her teeth with her thumbnail and frowned as she thought about it. Why was she so upset about Rachel? What did she think was going to happen here? Even if she did have feelings for the girl, and she wasn’t saying she did, Rachel obviously didn’t feel the same way. She had made that perfectly clear.

 

She huffed out a breath and pushed away from the car, fixing a smile on her face as she saw Brittany jogging towards her. She needed to stop thinking about this now, there was no way anything good would come out of her continuing with this train of thought.

 

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” she said as she reached her. “Artie stopped me in the hallway wanting to try and talk. I told him I didn’t want to but he got really upset.”

 

“No problem,” Santana smiled tightly as she opened the car. “I had a few things to sort out myself.”

 

“Did you break up with Rachel?” Britt asked as she slid into the car.

 

“What?”

 

“I saw her on the way out. She looked pretty upset. Are you okay?”

 

“I didn’t break up with Rachel, Britt, I…” she rested her hands on the steering wheel and stared out the window. “She looked upset?”

 

“Yeah,” she sighed sadly. “Everyone’s upset today. Artie, Rachel, Quinn looks like she’s going to slap anyone who talks to her and Finn kicked over a chair at lunch.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“Because of Rachel.”

 

“Why?” Santana asked, thoroughly confused. “What did Rachel do?”

 

“Well because she’s with you, silly.” Brittany turned to her with sad eyes. “Are you really going to keep seeing her? Because I was hoping that maybe you and I could get back together. I mean, properly this time.”

 

“I…” she closed her eyes and gripped the wheel tighter. “I’m confused. How does Finn know about me and Rachel?”

 

“She told him.”

 

“What? When?”

 

“Yesterday,” Brittany said with a frown. “After rehearsal. You had left already with Quinn and he confronted her about the song you two sang. They got into an argument and she told him that you two had been seeing each other and that she had feelings for you,” she snorted. “As if that wasn’t obvious from that stupid song.”

 

Santana stared out the window, her mind and heart racing. Rachel had told Finn. She couldn’t believe Rachel had told Finn. Why would she do that? Sure that had been the plan but after the conversation they had had on Saturday Santana was more or less convinced that she would never actually do it. Thinking about it it had been a fairly stupid plan from Rachel’s perspective as any ideas she had about getting back together with the stupid lump were pretty much out the window once she told him. Unless she was hoping he would get jealous too? In which case she should have said something, Santana would have been totally on board for messing with Finn’s head.

 

“Santana?” Brittany said, reminding her that she was not alone.

 

“Jesus, Britt, sorry, kind of zoned out there,” she said with an apologetic smile. “Where do you want to go?”

 

Brittany gave her a long look and then let out a sigh. “I think I want to go home.”

 

“Oh. Okay. Well, we can watch cheesy movies and…”

 

“No, Santana,” she said, reaching out to stop her from starting the engine. “I’m going to go home. You’re going to go in there and make Rachel happy again.”

 

“What?” Santana laughed nervously. “Britt, I…”

 

“I can see it in your eyes,” she smiled. “You want to be there for me but if you do that you’ll lose her and I can see it in your eyes that you’ll regret it.”

 

“Brittany…”

 

“No,” she shook her head firmly. “I know you love me, Santana, but you’re not in love with me anymore, and that’s something I’ll have to deal with.”

 

“But I…”

 

Brittany sighed and leaned forward to take Santana’s face in her hands. She kissed her gently on the lips and pulled back, looking into her eyes for a few seconds before she spoke. “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me you want me and not her.”

 

Santana stared into those blue eyes and felt something melt in her chest. The weight dropped off her shoulders and she felt an almost overwhelming urge to cry. “I can’t,” she whispered.

 

Brittany dropped her hands and smiled sadly. She nodded her head and leaned in to kiss Santana’s cheek before popping the door open. “Then go in there and talk to her,” she said as she climbed out. “She was headed towards the auditorium.”

  
  


* * *

 

 

Santana stopped outside the doors of the auditorium and took a moment to catch her breath. She felt ridiculous. After Brittany had left the car she had sat there for a few moments in silence trying to work out what to do. The girl she had been pining after for months had been sitting there telling her she wanted to be with her and all she could think about was Rachel fucking Berry. She realised now that that was all she had been able to think about for days, but what were a few days after all the time she had spent thinking about Brittany? And that was when it hit her. When she thought about Britt she felt sad, like she was mourning something, even when the girl was right in front of her telling her she loved her. When she thought about Rachel she felt happy and hopeful. Sure, a little bit scared too. What if she was wrong?

 

She had decided that she had to at least try, so she jumped out of the car and ran to the auditorium, pausing only now to gather her courage, and hope that Rachel was still here. She pushed the door open and headed in as the opening strains of Dusty Springfield’s How Can I Be Sure started, Rachel’s voice washing through the space as Santana made her way down the darkened aisle.

 

“How can I be sure in a world

That's constantly changing

How can I be sure where I

Stand with you

 

Whenever I

Whenever I am away from you

I wanna die

'Cause you know I wanna stay with you

How do I know, maybe you're trying to use me

Flying too high can confuse me

Touch me, but don't take me down.”

 

Santana moved quietly into a seat on the aisle and stared up at the stage, mesmerised by the raw emotion in Rachel’s voice and the reactions it caused in her own body.

 

“Whenever I

Whenever I am away from you

My alibi

Is telling people, I don't care for you

Maybe I'm just hanging around with my head up

Upside down, it's a pity for you

I can't seem to find somebody who's

As wonderful, baby as you

 

How can I be sure , I really, really

Really, wanna know

Really, really wanna know, yeah.”

 

Rachel’s face was an open book, every feeling and thought the song was expressing there on her features for the world to see, to the point where Santana felt like she was intruding, but she couldn’t leave now. Wild horses couldn’t drag her away now.

 

“Also, whether, whether or not we're together

Together will seem that much better

I love you, I love you forever

You know where I can be found

 

How can I be sure in a world

That's constantly changing

How can I be sure, I'll be sure with you?”

 

As the music finished Santana clapped her hands softly causing Rachel to start on stage.

 

“Who’s there?”

 

“I’m sorry,” she called back as she stood up and made her way to the stage. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

 

“Santana?” Rachel shielded her eyes with her hand. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Looking for you.”

 

“Why?”

 

Santana walked up the steps onto the stage and stood in front of her. “That was beautiful.”

 

“Thank you,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ears. “I...it’s just something I’ve been playing around with.”

 

“Well I think it’s perfect.”

 

“I...what did you want Santana?”

 

Santana sucked in a breath and wrapped her arms around herself, rocking back on her heels as she tried to gather her courage. “Well, I kind of wanted to run something by you with regards to our plan.”

 

“I’m pretty certain that our plan is over, Santana,” she muttered as she wandered over to the piano. “And, from what Tina tells me, a complete success. I’d imagine Brittany is looking for you.”

 

“Yeah, well that’s the thing,” Santana said as she followed her. “It wasn’t a complete success. There was an unexpected...complication.”

 

“Oh?” Rachel sighed and turned to her with sad eyes, a hand propped on her hip and the other on the piano. “And what would that be?”

 

“I…” Santana huffed out a breath and stared off into the darkened auditorium as she searched for the right words. “Well, it turns out that maybe it was kind of a stupid plan and we didn’t really think it through all that well.”

 

“Regardless, it worked. You got what you wanted.”

 

“What about you?”

 

“What about me?” The shorter girl asked, her hand brushing her hair out of her face as she stared at the ground.

 

“We never thought about how this would affect you,” she said softly. “I heard you told Finn.”

 

“How?” Rachel’s eyes snapped up to meet hers. “I mean, well, yes I did, but I never...um, in hindsight it was unfortunate that I didn’t wait a little longer.”

 

“Why didn’t you?”

 

“Because,” she huffed, her hand shaking as she put it back on her hip. “We had an agreement and I didn’t want to let you down.”

 

“Is that the only reason?” Santana asked gently, taking a small step towards her.

 

“Yes,” she replied quickly, her eyes darting around the space. “No. We got into a bit of an argument after our performance and I just got so mad at his arrogance that it just came out.”

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Rachel looked up at her again, her eyes softening and a sad smile on her face. “I’m fine, Santana. Thank you for checking on me but I’m sure there’s somewhere else you should be right now.”

 

“There’s nowhere else I need to be, Rachel.”

 

“But Brittany was…”

 

“She went home,” she said, reaching out for Rachel’s hand as she closed the gap between them. “It, uh, it turns out that, uh, that wasn’t what I wanted. That she’s not...who I wanted.”

 

Rachel’s breath hitched in her throat and she looked down at their hands. “I’m...I don’t think I understand what you’re saying,” she murmured.

 

“I think it’s pretty obvious, Rachel.”

 

“I think I need you to be really, really obvious.”

 

Santana chuckled softly and pulled her closer. “I was kind of hoping we could maybe drop the ‘fake’ and just try dating?”

 

Rachel let out a shaky breath and brought her other hand to meet Santana’s. “I think I might be open to that.”

 

Santana smiled down at her, her stomach lurching wildly at her words. “I’m going to kiss you now, okay?”

 

“Okay,” she smiled back as Santana brought their lips together.


End file.
